Somebody, Nobody, Anybody
by Wishmaker333
Summary: After destroying the Organization and returning home, Sora thinks some downtime on the islands would be paradise. However, when this much-needed vaction becomes an unchanging cage, is Sora too eager to leave home?
1. Chapter 1

/ Chapter 1

_Sora_

Everything was normal again. Sora, Kairi, and Riku were all back on the islands, together at last. They even had extra companions, Roxas and Naminé, who appeared on reflective surfaces whenever Sora and Kairi were together. Heartless and Nobodies were nowhere to be seen. Everything was peaceful. Everyone was happy.

Or, everyone _should_ have been happy.

Unrest seemed to have settled in everyone instead. Because of how small the islands were, there was no adventuring left to do that they hadn't done as children. Plus, everything felt public, like there wasn't a time for private conversations. Having Roxas and Naminé around didn't help Sora and Kairi's relationship, either. Not that Sora was in the mood to just talk anymore. He wanted to move—to find Heartless and take them on, to go on journeys to new worlds, or at least, to old ones and see his other friends again. Time on the islands had become an extended vacation, a cage.

His problems didn't make life any easier. Whenever he thought back on his adventures, thinking that, if anything, he still had his memories, he found blanks. They were mysteries, and whenever he tried to think through them, to try to remember, nothing came, except pain. It was like ripping hair out, then touching the place it had been. So was it better to just act like he _did_ remember? Like nothing was wrong?

It wasn't like his friends could help him, after all. All of them had been on their own adventures, and weren't always there for his. They could always share out what happened to them, tell stories of giant Heartless and magic, but for some reason, here on these peaceful, little islands, it felt like speaking of the old days was a taboo. So no one said anything. Or, well, most of the time, anyway.

In fact, this story begins with one of those rare times when times of adventures and magic came up. But this time, once it started, it refused to be left alone.

Riku was at the usual meeting place, not because he asked someone to meet him there, but because that's where he ended up, when Sora found him. While Riku sat on an almost-horizontal palm tree, Sora leaned against it, his hands behind his head, standing next to him. Riku spoke first, getting his thoughts out.

"Nothing's changed, huh?" he said.

"Nope, nothing will," Sora replied.

"What a small world."

"But part of one that's much bigger."

"Yeah."

It was silent for a moment, before Sora changed the subject, while at the same time, breaking the taboo.

"Hey, Riku…what do you think it was, the door to the light?" he asked.

Riku jumped down from the palm tree, and Sora relaxed his usual pose, taking a step away from the tree so he could face Riku.

"This," Riku said, pointing to Sora's chest, where his heart lay.

"This?" Sora asked, putting his hand where Riku had pointed.

"Yeah. It's always closer than you think," Riku said.

Sora thought about this, then smiled, satisfied. Riku always helped him with his problems.

Suddenly, a shout came, calling their attention to Kairi, who was running towards them.

"Sora! Riku!"

Kairi stopped in front of Sora, bending over, out of breath.

"Hey, what's up?" Sora asked.

"Look," she said, holding out a bottle with a piece of paper in it, rolled up to fit inside. On the paper was a seal, resembling an unforgettable friend.

"From the King?" Sora said, grabbing the bottle and rushing to get the letter out, excitement clear on his face. While Sora unrolled the paper, Kairi and Riku looked over his shoulders, Kairi on his left, Riku on his right. Riku had an unreadable, if not curious, look on his face. Kairi, on the other hand, was obviously worried.

Sora, barely able to contain himself, quickly read the letter, smelling an adventure.

Dear Sora, Kairi, and Riku,

Although I had thought that all would be peaceful with Xemnas gone, it seems the forces of evil are at work again. This must be discussed immediately. Please come to Disney Castle, using the corridor of darkness. Naminé should be able to help. I would've sent a gummi ship to you, but it seems that we don't have an extra. Please hurry.

Sincerely,

King Mickey

The three friends stood there, stunned, for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. Kairi broke the silence first.

"Another journey, huh?" she said, but she sounded edgy.

"Yep," Sora said.

"I'm not going to be left behind this time." Her voice was solid, final, and determined.

"Huh?" Kairi usually stayed behind, well, until she was kidnapped.

"I'm not staying here without you." Kairi wouldn't budge.

"But…" Sora looked uncertain. Adventures were dangerous…

"She has to come anyways," Riku said, taking the letter. "Naminé can't keep the corridor of darkness open with you two on separate ends, right? So she has to come."

"Uh…yeah, I guess…" Sora admitted. Kairi looked triumphant.

"Then come on, let's go!" Whatever was bothering Kairi before was gone now, and she pulled Sora by the wrist. Not expecting this, Sora let out a little "Hey!" of surprise and almost fell over.

Kairi all but dragged Sora to the secret place as Riku followed behind. This was where the friends had decided to put the mirror. The secret place was dark, with only a little light streaming through the top. It was like a cave, complete with cave drawings the islanders had etched onto the walls with rocks that made white marks. When they were younger, Sora and Kairi had drawn pictures of each other. Just about a year ago, before the islands had been taken over, Sora had drawn the picture of him giving a star to the picture of Kairi. Kairi had returned the favor by drawing the picture of her giving a different star to the picture of Sora, after the real Sora had saved the worlds and brought the islands back.

Now, there was a full-length mirror by the door that led to other worlds, which was tightly shut. If that wasn't enough, it also had no doorknob to open it with. There was no way, currently, to get off the islands.

When Kairi and Sora entered the secret place, Kairi let go of Sora's hand, and wandered around the room. Sora stayed where Kairi had left him, as if reluctant to leave Riku behind. When Riku did catch up, he was stuffing the letter into his pocket for safe keeping.

"Okay," he said. "Time to fill in the Nobodies."

When Riku said "Nobodies," he didn't mean it in an offensive way. Nobodies were incomplete people, who had lost their hearts to the darkness. Roxas and Naminé were Nobodies, while Sora, Kairi, and Riku were Somebodies—complete people who could feel emotions with their own hearts. But because Somebodies couldn't exist without their Nobodies, Roxas, who was Sora's Nobody, had to forfeit his life, so Sora could live. However, Roxas still existed, but no one in the realm of light could see him completely, without a reflective surface. Otherwise, if Sora and Kairi called Roxas and Naminé without one, they would be translucent. Sora and Kairi had once lost their hearts when on an adventure, which, in turn, created Roxas and Naminé, but Sora and Kairi were able to retrieve their lost hearts by saving each other.

Agreeing with Riku, Sora stepped up to the mirror and Kairi followed suit. Seeing their own still reflections, the two joined hands and closed their eyes, calling Roxas and Naminé with their hearts. A brilliant light filled the cave, and then died down. When Sora and Kairi opened their eyes, their reflections were replaced with Roxas and Naminé.

Roxas had golden blond hair that curved up, which contrasted Sora's straight brown hair that jutted up and out, seeming to defy gravity. While Sora mostly wore black, Roxas mostly wore white. They both wore running shoes, although they looked very different, and Sora's seemed to be two sizes bigger. Sora also wore black gloves and a chained necklace with a silver crown on it, and while Roxas didn't wear a necklace, he wore a checkered wristband and two finger-bands on his left hand. However, their eyes were the same shade of blue.

Naminé and Kairi also had different hair. Naminé had light blond hair that parted on her right side of her face, and came around her head to stay between her neck and her right shoulder. Kairi had red hair that parted on her left side of her face. It hung loosely down to her shoulders, a little shorter than Naminé's. Naminé wore a plain white dress with a square collar, and tank-top-like sleeves. The dress had a laced hem and she wore light blue sandals with it. Kairi also wore a white dress, but she wore a pink zipper dress over it, with a necklace and pink running shoes that matched her outer dress. They could've been sisters the same way that Sora and Roxas could've been brothers.

Roxas, standing close to Naminé and holding her hand, couldn't hide his smile. But Naminé, looking uncomfortable being so close to him, was eager to learn what was going on.

When the three islanders had explained the King's letter, Naminé asked, "So you want me to take you to Disney Castle?"

"Yes, please," Kairi said.

"Okay," Roxas said, shaking the dreamy look off his face. "But are we really going _right now_?"

"Why wouldn't we?" asked Kairi.

"Won't your parents worry?" Naminé said, looking concerned.

"They'll understand," Riku said, stepping next to the others. His reflection in the mirror wasn't there, since the mirror was showing the world that Roxas and Naminé lived in—in a way, a world of shadows. And because Riku had never lost his heart completely to the darkness, he did not have a Nobody.

So the mirror did not show that he was almost a whole head taller than Sora and Roxas, who were a little taller than Kairi and Naminé. In the mirror, you couldn't see Riku's long hair, which hung to about his shoulders and was silver, despite his age of sixteen, a year older than the other four. You also couldn't see Riku's black shirt and white sleeveless jacket over it, with his baggy blue jeans and his own pair of running shoes. You could not see anything where Riku's reflections would have been. It was like he wasn't even there.

"The King sounded urgent," he said, "so we should probably go now."

"Right," said Sora, with nod and a smile on his face.

Without a word, Naminé raised her hand, summoning the dark corridor. It sprang up, different shades of purple and black.

Their next adventure was about to begin.

*~x~*


	2. Chapter 2

/ Chapter 2

_Sora_

The Disney Castle was like a child's wonderland.

They were deposited into the garden, which was full of bushes and hedges cut to look like people, shapes, or objects. It was filled with greenery and in the middle was a "castle" which led to the gummi ship garage, where Chip and Dale did their work. The garden was surrounded by the palace walls, which were tall and white. Above was a blue sky, blemished only by white, fluffy clouds. It was a beautiful day…so, where was the trouble?

The three friends, now without their Nobodies since no reflective surfaces were around, were quickly noticed.

"Oh, good, you're here! We need to get to the throne room! The King has been waiting for you!" It was Daisy Duck. She was wearing her usual purple gown and tiara. She looked quite flustered.

Using the side door out of the garden, they rushed to the throne room, not knowing what the cause of Daisy's alarm was. They passed through hallway after hallway before arriving in front of the huge, powerful door, which actually only opened as a smaller door that Riku, being the tallest, had to duck down to get through. Although, once inside, there was no reason to, since the ceiling was held up by pillars that were as tall as the walls surrounding the garden. The walls, like everywhere else, were white, and a red carpet led to the throne at the far end of the room, where the King and Queen were discussing something quietly, too wrapped up to notice their entrance.

"King Mickey, King Mickey! The visitors are here!" Daisy called, running down the red carpet. The friends progressed more slowly, cautiously watching for danger.

The King turned, in his usual red, yellow, and white outfit. Seeing Sora and the others, he came down the steps. Queen Minnie stayed.

"Sora! Kairi! Riku!" he said, as they approached him. "I'm afraid I don't have good news."

"What's wrong, Your Majesty?" Sora asked. "Is it the Heartless? Maybe the Nobodies?"

The King looked almost defeated. He closed his eyes and uttered the one word that would change their sights on the situation:

"Both."

For a moment, no one knew what to say.

"For as long as you have been fighting with us, Sora, the Heartless and the Nobodies have been on separate sides. That has always made two enemies to look out for. But they're stronger together," the King explained.

"But everything's peaceful here," Sora said.

"On the islands, too," Kairi added.

"Yes," said King Mickey. "They're taking down one world at a time."

"How?" Sora asked, surprised.

"Wait, Naminé and Roxas should be here to hear this," Kairi said before the King could explain. She then asked him, "Do you have a mirror, Your Majesty?" Kairi asked.

He opened his eyes and looked at Kairi, curiosity in his eyes. "Yep," he said, "I recently put one in the library. But why?"

"Naminé and Roxas appear in reflective surfaces. They can appear without one, but you can see right through them. It's a bit uncomfortable," Kairi said.

"Alright, to the library, then," King Mickey said, making his way quickly to the hallway.

Once in the library, Sora and Kairi joined hands once again and Roxas and Naminé appeared. This mirror was quite small due to the fact that the King was half their height, so they had to sit very near each other to be fully seen. Roxas looked happy, if not a little uncomfortable, but Naminé, as usual, looked bothered by the contact. When Roxas looked at her, his smile faded, and he scooted a few inches back, looking a bit ashamed. What was going on with them?

"You called?" Roxas said, with a small smile that he obviously didn't feel.

"Yes. The worlds are in a bit of a mess." King Mickey, taking a map out of his pocket and holding it up so all could see, said to the friends, "It's like we're playing a game of baseball. We have four bases"—he touched four circles on the lower half of the paper in turn—"Destiny Islands,"—it was in the lower left corner, but not the furthest one down—"Disney Castle,"—the furthest right, and about seventy-five percent down the page—"Radiant Garden,"—which was about the center of the page, if not a bit lower—"and Traverse Town."—the furthest circle down the page, lying between Destiny Islands on the left and Disney Castle on its right.

"Wait, I thought Traverse Town was gone, since everyone went home after the worlds were remade!" Sora said, remembering his first adventure.

"Welp, it went back to existing when the worlds started getting taken over again, although hardly anyone lives there, since the Forces of Darkness are mostly just taking prisoners, not destroying anything," King Mickey said.

"Oh…" Sora said, and Riku interrupted before he could ask another question.

"What about the other circles?"

"Those are the enemy's bases. We know where they are and what they look like, but we don't know their names, according to our scouts. I haven't had the time to look at their descriptions, though…"

"We might know these places. Do you have the…?" But the King already took some papers off his desk and pointed to the circle lying just above Radiant Garden. He started to read.

"'A big castle with lots of devices, most very strange, some broken. Outside has a terrain that's blue and purple, with strange water that travels vertically upwards and—'"

"Hollow Bastion," Riku breathed.

It was eerie, but it was true. Hollow Bastion was all those things, but it was also Radiant Garden.

"It sounds just like how when we first visited it," Riku went on. "Like the world reverted back or something."

"But they're so close to each other!" Sora said, looking at the map, where the two circles were intersecting. "How can they not be fighting?"

"They are," said King Mickey. "That's where the first attack was, and they've been going ever since."

"What about the other bases? What do they look like?" said Roxas.

King Mickey pointed to the next higher-up circle, which mirrored Disney castle in the way that it was on the right, but it was closer to Hollow Bastion than Disney Castle was to Radiant Garden.

"'A desolate place,'" King Mickey read, "'that is shades of dark, cool colors, and looks like it's falling apart. It also has a—'"

"It's the End of the World," Sora said. Everyone looked at him like he just said the apocalypse was coming. The only ironic part was that it was.

"Er, it's a place. Really, it is. It's where I fought Ansem—uh, Xehanort's Heartless—for the last time and closed the Door to Darkness. We've all been there before, you guys just didn't know the name of it," Sora finished, looking around at the Somebodies.

"So that was what it was called?" said Mickey. "The End of the World? Golly…"

"Yeah. So what's the next one?"

Mickey pointed to the next circle, which was like Destiny Islands except, again, it was much closer.

"'Another castle, about the same size. The outside is green and white. The inside is white. Just white. There are lots of rooms that seem to be maze-like. There are—'"

"Castle Oblivion," Naminé said.

It was the first time Naminé spoke during this visit, but what really struck a chord with Sora wasn't that. The description of this mysterious place…of a castle of white that was like a maze…the very name of it… Why did it sound so familiar? Or make Sora's head ache?

The room was silent for a moment and held the air of unease. Naminé looked uncomfortable. Well, more uncomfortable. Why did she know this place? She had no weapon, so she couldn't have gone adventuring by herself. So was she held captive there? Then who saved her?

And Sora couldn't shake the feeling that he'd known Naminé at one time. Before they first met in The World that Never Was. Why was she so familiar?

"Please go on," Naminé said, breaking Sora's concentration. "There's one more."

Slowly, as if moving too fast could set off a bomb, King Mickey pointed to the last circle. It was the mirror of Traverse Town: middle of the page, except was at the top instead of the bottom.

"'A dark city-like place, with skyscrapers, blue and yellow lights, and a castle made of metal that could be seen from every possible position in the city. Both the city and the castle are quite big, but everything—'"

"The World that Never Was," Roxas said, speaking everyone's minds. "The castle is called The Castle that Never Was. We've all been there."

Everyone nodded in agreement. The King remarked his map and said to the others, "Welp, the Forces of Darkness are all coming towards us in a line. Assuming they get through our ranks, they'll conquer Radiant Garden first, then here, then Destiny Islands, and last Traverse Town, making it the safest place to—"

"Wait, what about Twilight Town?" Roxas asked. Twilight Town was the closest he had to a hometown.

The King closed his eyes again, saddened. "Twilight Town was the first to go."

"What?" Roxas was alarmed.

"Twilight Town lies between light and darkness. So when the two kinds collide, Twilight Town is unbalanced first."

Roxas's shoulders sagged. "But, then, where is—er, where _was_—Twilight Town?"

King Mickey opened his eyes and pointed to the line that stretched horizontal across the page, between the two forces, where Hollow Bastion and Radiant Garden seemed to touch. "There."

"It's a line?" Roxas said.

"It's a place of neither light nor darkness, so it has to be a light. Light and darkness are too powerful."

"Oh…"

Another moment of silence stretched on before the King continued.

"As I was saying, the last place they'll attack is Traverse Town, and that's where I would like all of you. Meanwhile, our forces will do the best they can in—"

Shouts of disapproval drowned out the King's words as they sank in.

"You mean we're not fighting?" Sora yelled above the others.

"Yes." His answer was grave.

"Why not?"

"Because we can't risk any of you getting hurt!" Mickey found his passion suddenly then, his voice approaching a yell of his own. But it faded as quickly as it had appeared and he became the defeated mouse he was just seconds ago. "Or worse."

Sora softened, but he didn't give up. "Why? Why does it matter if we're gone?"

"Because you five are so important to us." The King shot Sora a look, his eyes burning with determination. "We're fighting against Heartless. Do you think half of our forces will be able to go on if they saw you fall in battle?" Mickey took a step forward. Sora, surprised, took a step back. "And because two of you can't be removed without losing another two, we have to keep you all together. And safe. Our side depends on you to keep the hope alive." Mickey stiffened then, frustrated, and his emotions took a hold of him, making him take another step forward and explode at Sora, "How can you do that if you're gone?"

Sora, startled, tried to step backward, but tripped and fell. Mickey, seeing his fall, slowly retracted his anger and sorrow filled its place.

"I-I'm sorry," Sora managed, frightened.

Silence again, before the King sighed and said, "No, _I'm_ sorry. I'm just worried. Friends shouldn't yell at each other."

Sora perked up a bit then, and said, "Aw, it's okay, Your Majesty. I understand," Sora said. Then he looked uncertain. "But…what are we going to do in Traverse Town? You said hardly anyone was there."

"Mostly you're there to stay safe. But also to help anyone there whose world was destroyed. Not many have been, but just in case, we need you there. Scrooge and his nephews are there, tending a shop, as well as a few Moogles, not to mention the people from Twilight Town and people who can't fight from Radiant Garden. The rest? …Undetermined. But if Radiant Garden gets taken over, the fighters there will move here, and defend the castle. The ones who can't fight here will go to Traverse Town, and so on. If the evil forces get to Traverse Town, non-fighters will hide in the buildings. It's the best we can do to secure their safety."

"Wait, what about Donald and Goofy? And Leon and the others?" Sora asked, realizing he hadn't seen them.

"Radiant Garden."

The room echoed with the words. Everyone noticed just how high the stakes had become.

"Don't worry," said King Mickey. "They were ordered to take care of each other and pull back before anyone was seriously hurt. And soon I'll be joining them in Radiant Garden. Nothing will happen to them."

Sora couldn't comprehend the speeds at which everything was going. His life seemed to be tumbling out of control, faster by the minute.

But he couldn't look back. So there was only one thing left to do.

"When do we leave?"

*~x~*


	3. Chapter 3

/Chapter 3

_Sora_

It turned out that they were leaving right away. Again, they used the corridor of darkness. Kairi suggested bringing the mirror, but Naminé didn't think she could bring that much. She had lost confidence in her powers when a corridor had closed before Sora and Riku could go through, in The World that Never Was. That time, she had managed to bring five people, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Kairi, but had not been able to bring herself, Roxas, Sora, or Riku. This time, she was already transporting five of them, so she thought they couldn't risk a mirror. They could always try to find one in Traverse Town.

Sora first found Traverse Town when Destiny Islands were first destroyed. The islands were taken over by Heartless, and the friends were scattered to different worlds. Sora appeared in Traverse Town, and ever since, he had thought of it as his second home. But after Xehanort's Heartless was defeated, and the Door to Darkness was closed, all the worlds were put back together again, and Traverse Town no longer held a purpose, being a town made up of people whose homes had been destroyed. So Sora had never gotten to go back to Traverse Town and had missed it. It was nice to be there again and see the familiar sights.

Traverse Town was similar to The World That Never Was. They were both cities that were dark, but filled with lights; lampposts could be found on every corner and fireplaces were in almost every building, which were mostly shops. There were so many shops that Sora hadn't been in half of them.

But because he had been here before and knew it well, Sora felt it was his responsibility to fill the others in. And so, he, along with Naminé and Roxas, who were reduced to being see-through, went into an explanation of the city as he remembered it.

Traverse Town was divided into three districts: First, Second, and Third. First, when Sora was last there, was the only district that was safe: without any Heartless, and so, that's where most of the successful shops were. The Second and Third Districts were overrun with Heartless, but some places underground were without them, places to rest and recuperate. But even with two-thirds of the world full of Heartless, Sora still liked the town.

"So does that mean the Heartless are still here?" Roxas asked.

"No, they would have all their forces in Radiant Garden," Riku said. "I kind of wish we could say the same."

It was silent for a moment, and then Roxas said, "I hope they won't need us."

Sora, determined to be the leader and perk everyone else up, put on a confident smile and said, "They won't. They're good at fighting. They can take care of themselves."

The others seemed to want to believe this and nodded. It was the best that anyone could do.

"So, where are we?" Naminé asked, unsure.

"Umm." Sora looked around. The accessory shop, the dinner, the items shop… "Looks like First District."

"Okay, but where are we staying?" Kairi asked.

"Um…" Sora said, not certain himself. "Well…there is a hotel," he remembered. "But it's in the Second District. I don't know if it's safe…"

"We should check first," Riku said.

"Um, do we have to do it now?" Kairi asked.

"Well, if we stay in the hotel, then we have to check the town for Heartless."

"The _whole_ town?"

"To be sure," Riku said.

"Why?" Sora asked Kairi.

"Well, um…" Kairi said. She looked kind of embarrassed. "It's just that it's been a long day, so…I'm kinda tired."

Sora blinked. He hadn't even thought about that. Now that he did, he realized that he was tired, himself. His friends also showed various signs of exhaustion. Kairi was having trouble keeping her eyes open. Naminé looked like she was falling asleep standing up. Roxas looked dazed. Riku was slouching. Well, more than usual, anyway.

"Uh, okay," Sora said. "Then let's call it a day. Let's see…" Sora tried to think of a place in First District that would be safe to stay a night in. He thought back to when he first came here. A place he had felt welcome…

"We could stay at the accessory shop," Sora said, remembering. Cid, who, at the time, was running the shop, said that Sora could go to him if he ever needed it.

His friends game him a funny look, but didn't say anything, suddenly too exhausted to ask.

Instead, they all headed into the two story building. It was strange, Sora noticed, that the lights were on and the fireplace was lit when no one was there, but no one said anything, so he didn't either. Upon checking out the shop, everyone agreed that the first floor was better because of the couch and footstool. But because of the two doors—one on each floor—they felt obligated to lock them both, fully knowing that if Heartless came, locked doors would do nothing. They then arranged their sleeping spaces, the girls taking the couch and Roxas and Sora settled with sleeping on the footstool, which was about as long as the couch. Riku insisted to sleep near the fireplace on the ground, so that he could be closest to the door should anyone—or any_thing_—get in.

Upon turning the lights out, leaving only the fireplaces on both floors burning, Sora decided it was his turn to go to bed, as the others had already lain down. But as he did, he found the half of the footstool that he got was more comfortable than he imagined. He laid on his back and rested his head on his hands and, in the almost complete darkness, found it very hard not to fall asleep immediately.

"Night," he said to everyone and no one.

Every person in the room responded accordingly, with various answers that all essentially added up to "Good night", but Sora was no longer listening. Not really, anyway. Despite his determination to be the leader, Sora was the first one asleep.

*~.~*

_Roxas_

Roxas was the last one awake.

Well, so he thought, anyway. Everyone _looked_ asleep. But that didn't mean anything. And it was hard to tell with Riku. Not because he couldn't see him very well, but because Roxas had a hard time reading him. Roxas guessed a lot of people did.

Roxas sighed. He had _way_ too much on his mind. He needed to share it with someone. But who?

Looking around, he easily came to an answer. He was a bit hesitant, at first, then decided he was too tired to play games, anymore. It was time he said something.

Getting up as quietly as he could, so he didn't wake anyone up, he righted himself. Then he took a deep breath and tapped on her shoulder.

"Hey, Naminé," he whispered.

She fidgeted and opened her eyes a little. In the half-light, Roxas saw her looked alarmed and imagined that he looked scary standing over her, as he was. Silently, he took a step back and put a figure to his lips, making the universal "be quiet" sign. Then he pointed upstairs, obviously trying to talk to her alone without the others hearing.

She sat up a little and rubbed her eyes. Roxas felt bad about waking her up, when she actually was able to sleep, but he wanted—no, he _needed_—to get his questions answered.

After understanding his signals, Naminé nodded and stood up. They then climbed the ladder to the second floor, hoping it wouldn't make a noise.

The upper room was mostly empty. It had one round table in the closest corner of the room and two long tables sitting opposite of what looked to be an oven of some sort. From Sora's memories, Roxas saw Moogles synthesizing items in it. But they were gone now. The oven, like the fireplace, was still lit and was the only light source, currently, but Roxas wasn't about to change that.

He went to sit across from the oven, between the two tables, up against the wall, and Naminé joined him.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Naminé asked.

"I wanted to talk about…" Roxas stared at the floor. "Well, I wanted to talk about us."

Naminé didn't say anything. Roxas looked at her, but she was looking away, too.

"It really makes it difficult, doesn't it?" She finally said.

Roxas tried to stay patient. He didn't care much for speaking in riddles. His answer to her question may have been vague, but it was understandable. Hers…wasn't.

"I don't understand."

She fidgeted again, but not from just waking up. "Well, it's just that…we're only here when Sora and Kairi are here, and—"

"You don't like me, do you, Naminé?"

His question was direct, his tone serious. This time, he kept his eyes on her, and he saw her glance at him with a bit of shock.

"Well, I…" she started, then stopped. She relaxed. Her tone was defeated, sad almost. "No, I don't."

The problem was obvious, but it wasn't the whole "boy likes girl, girl doesn't like boy" thing.

No, their problem was much bigger than just that.

Naminé and Roxas were Nobodies, but they had their own free will. In theory, they could get together with whomever they wanted. But because they could only exist when Sora and Kairi were together, well, that limited their choices. To about one person. The problem?

Naminé had no feelings for Roxas and Roxas had no feelings for Naminé.

So they had to be alone.

This hit Roxas the hardest. All he wanted from life was to fit in. And he was so happy when he found himself surrounded by friends who accepted him. But it was easy to find problems. The biggest? They knew nothing about him. His personality, his likes, his dislikes—they didn't even know his favorite color. And he couldn't help him.

He was too confused about himself, too.

When Roxas had first come into being, he had no memories, no personality, unlike the other Nobodies. But he joined a group of Nobodies called Organization XIII, who gave him a number and a name. For a week, he led his life like a zombie. After that, he couldn't really remember correctly. He didn't know what it was, messing with his memories. But he did remember developing more of a personality, and making a friend.

_Axel_, Roxas thought to himself. _His name was Axel._

Roxas hated the past tense.

Sora was there when it happened, so Roxas had a perfect memory of Axel d—

Roxas stopped himself. The memory was still too fresh, the wound too new. Better not think of it.

But _he_ knew Roxas. _He_ knew Roxas through his darkest days, his best memories. The people downstairs? Not at all.

Naminé was second best. She knew Roxas better than the others, but still not as good as _him_.

Roxas noticed he hadn't said anything and that Naminé was tense and waiting.

"Yeah, I kinda knew that," Roxas admitted. "I just hope they're okay with it," he said, gesturing down the ladder.

Naminé relaxed a little. "I don't think…everything is as it seems."

"What do you mean?"

"Kairi and Sora…they don't seem to be connecting as well as they did before."

Roxas, through Sora's memories, remembered the days Sora and Kairi were always laughing and playing together. They may have been kids then, but it was only about a year ago that they were still laughing and playing on the islands together.

"What happened to them?" Roxas asked, puzzled.

"They changed."

Change. Was that it? Was that all it took to break what they had?

"I think we should go back to bed now," Naminé said, standing up.

"Uh, yeah," Roxas replied, following her.

But even when Roxas had lain back down on the footstool, or even when her heard Naminé's light snores to the left of him, he still couldn't get Axel out of his head.

*~x~*


	4. Chapter 4

/ Chapter 4

Roxas

The next morning, Sora got everyone up to do their daily routines. Sora was upbeat and perky as always, and Roxas wondered how he did it. Then again, Roxas was Sora's Nobody, and was destined to live in his shadow. Still, Roxas couldn't help wanting _him_, the way that Sora was always needed.

_But that would never happen_, Roxas thought. _Why would anybody want a Nobody_?

Figuring that his lack of sleep wasn't helping his mood, Roxas started getting up when he noticed something. Outside, the sky was still as dark as it had been when they had gone to bed the previous night.

"Uh, Sora?" Roxas said.

"Yeah?" Sora said, slightly distracted with the fire, which had gone out while they were sleeping.

"How long were we sleeping?" Roxas said, alarm slipping into his voice, his eyes stuck on the window.

"Heh, I don't really know," Sora admitted. "But why are you…" Sora looked up from the fireplace to Roxas, and followed his gaze. "Oh, you mean why is it still dark outside?"

Roxas nodded, expecting a rational answer.

"Well, there is no day here, like The World That Never Was, or Twilight Town," Sora explained. "Except Twilight Town is just always having a sunset, while The World That Never Was always experiences night."

Roxas relaxed and nodded. That was good enough for him. Although he had lived in The World That Never Was and Twilight Town for most of his life, Roxas guessed that he just got so used to seeing the sun rise in the morning on Destiny Islands,that he panicked when it was gone. Sure enough, Sora's memories came flooding back to him and Roxas couldn't find one that had the sun overhead in Traverse Town.

_And to think_, Roxas thought, _this is a base of the good side, the side of light, and yet is always experiences night. Maybe…maybe everything isn't as simple as it seems._

"We should get going," Sora said, after he thought a bit. "You know, look around town, to see if there's any Heartless."

Roxas wondered if Sora was _excited_ about seeing Heartless again. He had been so…restless on the islands. Would a good fight settle that?

And so they left the accessory shop. Everything was as dark and quiet as they had left it, giving Roxas chills. He wished there were more people about, so it wouldn't seem so much like a ghost town.

They checked out Second District first, since First District was almost too quiet. But Second District was pretty much the same. Shops were abandoned, without people and lonely. Roxas wondered what happened to a world without people. Did it still exist? Or did it disappear into nothingness? And if it did, how would it come back? So many questions he had, with no way to answer them…

He _would have the answer,_ Roxas thought to himself, thinking back to a memory that was untouched by any blurriness that had stained so much of his memories, marking it precious.

_They were at the clock tower in Twilight Town. Again. Axel was late this time, but Roxas was just happy he showed up. After all, sometimes he didn't, because of one reason or another. But today, his spiky red hair waved in the breeze, as did the black Organization XIII cloak that matched Roxas's, their laughter filling the sky. They were eating the usual ice cream—sea salt, only Axel was done. Already. He had finished first, again. One of the many wonders of Axel: how did he eat so fast?_

"_Hey, Roxas," he said. "Bet you don't know why the sun sets red." When Roxas didn't answer, Axel continued, "You see, light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."_

_Roxas bumped Axel with his elbow. "Like I asked! Know-it-all." They laughed genuine laughter despite neither of them having a heart to feel with._

It's him_, Roxas thought. _Only around him am I like this, so happy and lighthearted.

Roxas still believed this. There was something to Axel that made Roxas just so…happy. _Because, without him, everything's so…_ he looked around, at this lonely city that never experienced day…_.dark and empty. Everything's dark and empty without him._

"And here's the hotel," Sora said, jerking Roxas from his thoughts. Sora then opened one of a long, one-story building's double doors, letting everyone inside. There had been other shops that they hadn't gone in, but since this might be a good place to stay, they decided to take a look inside. But…

"There are only four rooms," Roxas said, looking around. "And there are five of us."

"Well, if we decide to stay here, then some of us will just have to double up, right, Sora?" Riku looked at Sora, his stare unyielding.

As a response, Sora turned red.

"But there's gotta be a better place, right? Come on, Sora, where to next?" Kairi said, kind of in a rush, walking over to him and pulling him by his sleeve to the exit. Sora barely seemed to notice, his eyes still locked with Riku's. It wasn't until they were outside that he complained.

_Yeah,_ Roxas thought, _maybe everything _isn't _what it seems._

The rest of Second District passed without an event. Sora showed them building after building, but that's all they were—buildings. There were no people, no life. Next was Third District, where Sora found something.

"Hey," he said. "This is where Leon and the others stayed. Remember?"

Both Kairi and Riku nodded, and after a second of flipping through memories, so did Roxas and Naminé. But while three of them nodded in agreement, Riku's nod seemed to mean something else, and he looked at the ground, dazed, like he was remembering something unpleasant. Then he closed his eyes and nodded again, as if admitting something to himself. Then he opened his eyes and stood a little straighter, his issue—whatever it was—resolved.

_What was that about?_ Roxas thought.

Taking a look inside, the room was bigger than the hotel rooms, but not by much.

"We could probably all stay here if we needed to," Naminé said, trying to make Kairi feel better after the scene at the hotel.

"Um, uh, yeah," Sora agreed, nodding once.

Riku, who was standing next to Sora, muttered something Roxas couldn't understand, but Sora obviously did, because he turned red again, and seemed in a hurry to rush everyone out of the room, saying something about how he thought he saw a mirror in First District. Roxas lingered.

He roamed around the room, taking his time. A lot of the furniture was covered with tarps and blankets, but on top was a layer of dust. Everything was so abandoned and dusty and old…

_Is that what Axel would think of me?_ thought Roxas. _So old—so known—that I'm untouchable now?_

Roxas cursed himself quietly. He didn't want to admit it, but he had been thinking about Axel the entire time, a ruling presence.

_Will I ever get over it?_ Roxas thought miserably.

Figuring he had wasted enough time, Roxas left the building, ready to follow Sora and the others, the only life he knew how to follow at this point. Ready to let go of his half-remembered past, and go on with a sad and lonely future.

Ready, according to destiny, to get the greatest twist of fate that he had ever had in his entire life, including the time he was Sora.

It was the creak of the door from the Second District that drew his attention. Roxas thought that maybe one of his companions had noticed his absence. But even at a glance, Roxas knew the person coming from Second District wasn't one so unfamiliar to him, so unlike him. No, the hair, the face, the clothes—it was all wrong.

Because, in Roxas's mind, no one could replace him.

He'd somehow remembered everything about him, like his memory was trying to make up to him how much it lost by remembering everything about this one person. The black Organization cloak that marked him for what he once was, but turned on and rebelled against. The flame-colored hair that pointed away from his face, to the back of his head. The sea-green eyes.

"Axel?"

Axel looked as surprised as Roxas was. Too many questions buzzed through his head. _How are you here? What are you doing here? What _really_ happened to you? I thought you had—_

Disappeared.

The memory was clear in his mind, despite the fact that it was Sora's. Axel, lying on the ground, deteriorating, telling Sora to go, find Kairi, and leave him behind.

Sora may have been able to, but Roxas knew he never could.

"Roxas?" Axel breathed, hesitant, like speaking aloud would scare Roxas away. "Are you—?" His eyes were narrowed, suspicious, but Roxas could also tell, by the year they had spent together in the Organization that there was fear in his eyes.

Confused, Roxas looked down at himself. He was see-through, as usual for not being in front of a mirror, but he was almost _too_ see-through. Like he was slowly vanishing into thin air. It took a second for Roxas to understand, for the horror to sink in. _Sora_.

"Oh, no," he said.

Sora was too far away. Roxas was slowly being taken apart and transported to him, automatically. He was going to disappear.

_But Axel_… Roxas hadn't seen him in so long…would he stay here, if Roxas suddenly disappeared? _Probably not for long_, he thought quickly. _He'd try to find me, wouldn't he?_ Roxas was disappearing too fast. He needed to say something, quickly, before he was gone. Before Axel was gone.

Axel's expression had gone from suspicion to alarm. "What's happening to you, Roxas?"

"Axel! I—please, wai—"

Everything was dark. More than dark. Black. Nothingness. Roxas couldn't see anything. Couldn't hear anything. Couldn't feel anything. Everything was oblivion.

Roxas thought of Axel. Was he still there, where Roxas had involuntarily left him? How much time had passed? How long was he going to be here? Roxas remembered the last time this had happened. It was back on the islands. The four of them—Sora, Kairi, Naminé, and Roxas—were sitting on the beach, talking, laughing, and telling stories. Then Sora said he had to go to the bathroom, and left. At first, no one noticed anything. Then the Nobodies started to fade. No one had remembered that Sora _and_ Kairi had to be present for Roxas and Naminé to exist.

Sora had found Kairi frantically searching the beach when he came back. After Kairi had explained the situation, they joined hands and called the Nobodies, afraid that something had happened. The Nobodies did come back, but they were lying on the ground, and were extremely weak. They had a hard time moving without flinching. Their bodies ached, and their heads pounded, loudly, to their ears.

_But at least Kairi was there,_ Roxas thought._ This time, neither of them are here. No one knows that I'm gone, aside from Axel. And maybe no one will ever find me. One Nobody isn't too much of a loss, right?_

Roxas imagined Axel moving on without him, forgetting about him and finding a new best friend, to talk with to share with…to laugh with and eat ice cream with…

To replace him.

Roxas was revolted. Terrified. Upset. Angry. Heartbroken.

With the heart he did not have, Roxas cried out in anguish.

*~x~*


	5. Chapter 5

/ Chapter 5

_Sora_

"There it is!" Sora said, pointing. They were back in First District, outside a building that Sora had never been in. Inside, a tall, full-length mirror was covered by a white sheet. At least, Sora thought it was white. It was hard to tell, since the lights inside were off. He got closer to the window, and Kairi came up behind him.

"Do you think it belongs to someone?" Kairi asked, peering in.

Sora shook his head. "No one lives in this town anymore. And they—I mean, the people who used to live here—won't miss it, because they didn't take it when they left. C'mon, let's go get it." He pushed himself away from the building and ran for the door, reaching for the doorknob.

Before he could touch it, his head was filled with an ear-shattering scream.

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

Sora halted, falling to his knees as the noise continued. He bent his head, covering his ears, as if it could cut off the sound.

As it died away and silence took its place, everything seemed to slow down. He heard his heart beating in his head, making the headache the scream had brought on worse. He couldn't hear anything but that rhythmic beating and the echoes of the scream in his head.

_So sad,_ Sora thought. _Like he was in pain. Maybe…maybe not physical pain, but pain of the heart. But…who _was _that?_

Suddenly, every sense came back to him. Without any transition, he could suddenly see the ground below and Kairi as she stuck her face in front of him, waving. Out of the corner of his eye, Sora saw her mouth move and knew she was calling his name, asking what was wrong, but everyone around him asked that same question, and her voice melted into the crowd's. But his attention wasn't on her. Because, as he blankly stared at the ground, it was clear to him who it was that had screamed in fury, in depression, in desperation.

In heartbreak.

"Roxas."

That one word silenced the crowd, and everyone was too shocked to do anything. Then he faced them, asking, "Where's Roxas?"  
Everyone looked around, and Sora searched the crowd for Roxas's blond hair. Sora unconsciously knew what to expect before he figured it out, himself.

He only found Naminé. _And Kairi's here, too, so...the Nobodies can exist here, but…where's Roxas?_ Sora thought. _The only reason he couldn't appear would be because…_

_He's not here, _Sora realized, horrified. _He got left behind._

Sora jumped up, calling his friends' attentions without a word. "He's in Third District! C'mon!" Sora ran for the door that went straight to Third District, so they wouldn't have to go back through Second. His friends followed.

After quickly scanning the main plaza and finding no one, Sora figured that he must be farther up. Grabbing Kairi by the hand, who didn't argue, Sora ran for the stairs, ignoring the brilliant light that momentarily covered everything. Sora and Kairi, blind, guessed where each step was, based on memory.

When the light ceased, Sora saw Roxas lying on the ground, his eyes closed, barely moving. Sora let go of Kairi's hand and rushed over, not daring to touch him. Sora got down on his hands on knees and where he was closest to Roxas, he was less transparent, more real.

"Roxas!" Sora yelled, trying to wake him up.

"Sora, I don't think that's going to help," said Riku, behind him.

Sora looked up at Riku, hoping for some support. But Riku's attention was diverted. He was looking towards the door to Second District. Sora looked, too. And stared in amazement.

"Axel?"

At this, Roxas begun to move, and he moaned, obviously in pain.

*~.~*

_Roxas_

"Roxas, are you okay?" Sora asked, too soon for Roxas to answer.

Roxas dragged himself onto his hands and knees, like Sora, and when he realized he could support himself, he pushed himself up onto just his knees. One hand covered half his face, his fingers on his forehead. There was pain there, a pounding headache. The other hand hung loosely in his lap. His eyes were still closed, trying to contain the headache.

"Wh-what happened?" he managed.

"You disappeared." Roxas opened his eyes. The voice was Axel's. He was leaning against the door to Second District. The pose and the face he was making reminded Roxas of a memory of Sora's, when he came to tell Sora he was falling into the Organization's trap. He looked a bit angry, frustrated, as he did now.

"Why did you disappear?" Axel asked, snapping Roxas out of his Somebody's memories.

_Why did you?_ Roxas thought, remembering the time Axel had been missing, or, in the heads of the five friends, worse.

"He got too far away from us," Kairi said, not giving Roxas time to answer. "Roxas and Naminé can't exist without us around," she explained, taking a step closer to Sora, who tried to hide his discomfort.

_It looks like Sora doesn't like how he and Kairi are always clumped together than I do…_ Roxas thought.

While Axel started putting the pieces together, too, Riku said, "We should go inside." He nodded towards the small house where the group had left Roxas. "Roxas should lay down after that."

So the six of them headed into the building, Naminé helping Roxas inside; a Somebody couldn't touch a Nobody and vice versa. Naminé led him to the bed, but he refused to lie down. Sora sat beside him, thinking it was his fault Roxas had disappeared again, and Kairi sat beside Sora. No room on the bed, Naminé sat in the only chair, and Riku and Axel were forced to stand, forming an uneven semi-circle.  
To fill the silence and answer Axel's unspoken questions, Sora mostly explained what Axel had missed, but Kairi, Riku, and the two Nobodies threw in what Sora wasn't present for. Roxas seemed distracted, but no one asked about it.

"So the Organization is gone?" Axel asked when they had finished.

"We think so," Kairi said.

"But all of them vanished like you," Sora said.

"So if you could find your way back," Riku continued, "maybe so can they."

"King Mickey did say the Nobodies were helping," Kairi pointed out, talking about the mindless Nobodies that didn't always look even partially human.

"I dunno," Axel said. "With no one to rule them…could they really attack?"

"Xemnas could be behind this," Riku said. "If he came back."

"Only if he found some way to get a heart out of it," Axel said. "He was obsessed with getting one."

Everyone was silent for a minute, contemplating this. Then, hesitantly, Roxas spoke.

"So what happened to you, Axel?"

Axel looked at Roxas, scratched his head, and shrugged. "I don't know," he said honestly. "One second, everything was dark and I couldn't hear or feel anything, then I was in Twilight Town."

"Twilight Town?" asked Roxas eagerly, finally showing some emotion.

"Yeah, but it was taken over by Heartless," Axel said, and Roxas's shoulders slumped. "Although, I did remember someone while I was there." Axel looked at Kairi. "You remind me of her."

"Who?" Sora asked.

Axel glanced at Sora, then looked directly at Roxas.

"Xion."

The result was instantaneous, almost physical. Riku flinched. Naminé had an expression on her face that made her look like she was in pain. Kairi looked confused. Sora had a far-out, dazed look on his face. But Roxas didn't notice any of this. He was too distracted by the onslaught of pain in his head. The images. The emotions. The memories.

A black Organization cloak. The hood pulled up to hide the blue eyes, short, black hair. A pretty, soft face. The hood let down to reveal a beautiful smile.

_Just like Kairi,_ Roxas couldn't hold back the thought. Just like he couldn't hold back the memories.

"_Kairi…That's right. She's the one that looks so much like me."_

"_Roxas…I'm out of time."_

"_I've decided that I have to go back to where I belong."_

"_Even if I'm not ready, I have to make this choice."_

"_Better that, than to do nothing."_

"_This _is_ right."_

"_Look at me, Roxas, who do you see?"_

"_You'll be better off now, Roxas."_

"_It's too late for me to undo my mistakes."_

"_It was my choice to go away now."_

The memories continued, but Xion's voice was replaced with Roxas's.

"_Xion!"_

"_No!"_

"_Xion."_

"_Wait!"_

"_Xion…"_

_The tears, as they fell down his cheeks, tears he should not be able to cry, matched the sorrow that he should not be able to feel._

Out of reach, Naminé was not close enough to Roxas to catch him as he fainted.

Xion was gone. So was he.

*~.~*

_King Mickey_

The King stood in the bailey of Radiant Garden, overlooking the fight between the Nobodies and Heartless against the Forces of Light, which were mostly Radiant Garden residents who could fight. King Mickey did not like what he saw.

From the battlefield, two figures climbed up the rubble of the fallen castle wall, and met Mickey with mirror salutes.

"Your Majesty, we have terrible news!" said the mage. He wore purple and blue clothes, held a staff, and had the appearance of a duck. "Our forces are falling!"

"We can't hold them off any longer!" added the knight. He wore green and orange, held a shield, and looked like a…dog?

King Mickey sighed and turned around, a sad and disappointed look on his face. "Alright," he said. "It's time we retreat to Disney Castle. Thank you, Donald and Goofy."

Donald and Goofy slowly glanced at each other, sad and worried looks on their faces, before nodding to their king. They then turned around and headed back down the rubble, out of the bailey. They ran back into the fuzz between Nobodies, Heartless, and the Forces of Light. They ran to help their comrades escape, by holding off their opponents, before rushing to the next friend, spreading the word of retreat.

King Mickey faced the onslaught again, and sighed. Pulling on a braver face, he pulled his right arm away from his side, straightening it, and called his weapon.

With a beautiful flash of light, his Keyblade appeared in his hand. Truly a blade shaped like a key, it gleamed gold in the sunlight. Mickey stepped up to the edge of the bailey, overlooking the battle. With a terrible amount of effort, he lifted his Keyblade to the sky. From it, a mysterious thread of white light formed at the top, and shot to the sky. The beam made a high-pitched ringing noise before entering the clouds, where it could travel no further, and exploded like fireworks. Streams of white light fell from the sky, the sign of surrender. Mickey rested his Keyblade at his side.

He saw many eyes on him then, of his friends, who were between great sorrow and fury. He also saw the eyes of Nobodies and Heartless, but they did not feel emotions and the King could not read their faces. Mickey felt defeated, but he knew his friends needed his help, and he took a deep breath, then jumped from his perch into the battle, to help all who he came across, escape. But no matter how many times he flashed his Keyblade, killing off a Heartless or Nobody, two more seemed to take its place. He helped everyone he could, but he was downcast by his own thought:

_Radiant Garden has fallen._

*~x~*


	6. Chapter 6

/Chapter 6

_Riku_

When Roxas heard the name, his fall was sudden. The pain in Riku's head was, too, like a Heartless's claws digging into his temple. Without meaning to, he flinched, and the memories came back.

"_Who am I?" she said, eyes closed and half-conscious. "What am I…here for?"_

_Riku brushed her short, black hair out of her face. He felt bad for her, this girl who had nothing solid of herself. After all, she was just a copy of another person…_

"Who's Xion?" Kairi said in the real world, but Riku barely heard her. Opening his eyes a little, he saw that Naminé must have propped Roxas against the wall, because he was now sitting up, but out cold. Kairi looked worried, but not worried enough to decide against asking her question.

Riku closed his eyes, again. He couldn't concentrate on them. And so he was lost to his memories once again.

"_Kairi…that's right. She's the one that looks so much like me."_

_His own voice answered, "To Sora, she's someone very special."_

Riku withheld a gasp, as he tried to pull himself out of his memories that yearned to drown him. He remembered saying these words, himself, but jealous burned him all the same, threatening to pull up the darkness inside him that he had managed to push down for so long.

In his conscious mind, Riku heard Axel tell Kairi, "She was a member of the Organization. She joined not too long after Roxas. She always wore her hood up. We found out why later…"

Riku opened his eyes again and searched for the real Sora, who was not ten feet in front of him. Sora was still looking away, that spacey look on his face…

Seeing Kairi beside him, his mind formed the hostile words he didn't want to put together: _That's right. I'll always keep looking for _him, _no matter who he prefers._ Feeling downcast from the thought, Riku was pulled under once again, to the same memory.

"_So, do you hate me for taking your friend away from you?" Xion challenged._

_His own voice answered, "Nah, I guess…I'm just sad."_

It was true. It was still true. He didn't blame Xion for what happened to Sora…he was just sad how it worked out. His head seemed cleared for a bit.

"Why?" Kairi said, breaking Riku's thoughts. "Why did she always wear her hood up?"

Riku, no longer feeling threatened by memories overpowering him, glanced at Axel. Axel swallowed hard and looked away. Xion was Axel's friend, no matter how strange the friendship was, and Axel had a hard time saying bad things about her.

"She was a puppet," Riku said, drawing everyone's attention, "created by the Organization. But as she worked alongside Roxas, while Sora was sleeping, she accidentally absorbed some of his memories, through Roxas. She could absorb Sora's lost memories…well, because she was a replica of his memories, personified, more or less."

Riku paused, letting this sink in. It was difficult to comprehend, and he remembered when Xion first found out what she was, and asked him about it. The memory came back to him, suddenly clear as day, but it did not drown him in its depths.

"_It's just…I remember things about the two of them. But I'm nothing more than a puppet—something that somebody created. So why would I have…their memories?" Xion walked to a nearby palm tree, and leaned against it. A new thought came to her, and she lifted her head to look at Riku. Since she didn't get an answer to the last question, she asked, "Do you know where Sora is now?" _

"_That secret stays with me," Even in his memory, Riku sounded defensive._

_Xion looked back to the tree, closing her eyes. "Why's that?" Her tone was sad._

"_Xion…" But Riku couldn't tell her. She was still part of the Organization. If only she could understand…"…your memories…they really belong to Sora."_

_Xion lifted her head, turning it, so Riku could see part of her face. "So you mean…I'm like…a part of him?"_

_Riku came closer, still trying to make her understand. "When his memories were scattered, some of them…" –Xion lifted her head more, looking right at Riku-"found their way inside you." She ducked her head down, and her hand came to her temple, like she was in pain. "Now, Sora has been put to sleep so that we can piece together his memory. Except…"_

"Except, Sora couldn't wake up without the memories that were absorbed by Xion," Riku said, to the real world, which he still had to explain these events to. "And she could give those memories back, but there was a price for doing that…"

"_You can't, because part of it is inside of me," Xion finished for him. "That means…he can't wake up."_

"_Yeah," Riku said, who had came to a stop in front of her. "You got it. But, if you go with me to Sora right now, we could give the memories inside you, back to him," Riku said, finally providing the solution._

_But…was it really a solution in Xion's mind?_

_If she was made up of Sora's memories…and she gave them back…then she would—_

"The only thing was," Riku said, still summarizing, "if she gave up the very thing she was made of—Sora's memorizes—she would be gone." Riku looked away from the awestruck eyes, still glued to him. "She couldn't give up her existence that easily. She had"-Riku couldn't help glancing at Roxas-"people she still wanted to go back to, and be with."

"_So, do you hate me for taking your friend away from you?" Xion challenged. She had also put together the pieces. And she couldn't give up that much. Not yet, without a fight._

_His own voice answered, "Nah, I guess…I'm just sad."_

_Xion instantly backed down, moved by his comment. Her head lowered again, and she said, "I'm sorry, but…I can't go with you. It's my friends—they need me." She looked at her hand, covered by her black, Organization glove. "And I need them, too." She closed her eyes along with that hand into a fist, thinking that this was the only way for her._

"So what did you do?" Kairi asked, bring Riku back to the real world.

Riku looked at her. "I told Xion to think about it. To figure out where she really belongs, and what would be the best for everyone. She was too…unsure of herself at the time."

_Riku placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked up. "Maybe…you should take some time and think about it. Figure out who really needs you more." Xion looked down, lost in thought. "And where you belong."_

_Xion looked back up at Riku. "How will I know," she said, "where I belong, truly?" Her eyes found the ground again, and she was doubtful of herself. "I'm not sure I can promise you I'll come up with the right answer."_

"_Well, the answer you come up with can't just be right for you. It has to be the one that works best for everybody, you and your friends, and everyone else." Riku, having nothing else to say, walked away._

"_I'll try," Xion said, looking up to see that Riku was already gone. "Thank you, Riku."_

"So…what did she finally choose?" Kairi said. She was obviously caught up in the story, since the answer was sitting just beside her, dazed, but awake.

"She chose to destroy herself," Riku said, "and go back to Sora."

"Xion…" Sora said, sad. He clearly believed Xion's disappearance to be his fault.

"She always wore her hood up, because of what she looked like," Riku said, bringing the question up again."Because of what she was, she took the appearance of whatever majority of Sora's memory she had, at the time. It also depended on who was around to see her."

"She had short, black hair and blue eyes, right?" Sora finally said.

Riku looked at him. He had half-expected this, but… "You know her?" Riku asked.

Sora shrugged. "I just sorta…remember her."

Riku nodded. Since Xion was made of his memory, and she went back to Sora, it would make sense that Sora had retained some of Xion's memory, as well. "She looked a lot like Kairi," Riku continued. "Or, at least, she usually did, as Sora described. But because she sometimes took the appearance of others, at one time, when she absorbed _all_ of Sora's lost memories, she took the appearance of Sora."

"Like me?" Sora said, surprised.

Riku nodded. "She was a replica of you, after all."

"Wait, but why did she look like me in the first place?" Kairi asked.

"You were in Sora's memory the most, at the time, due to…" –Riku glanced at Naminé, who looked away-"certain reasons. So she appeared as you."

"Huh…" Kairi didn't look all that displeased. _She probably only heard "you were in Sora's memory the most…"_ Riku thought, bitterly. It was quiet, then, before Kairi thought of another question and asked, "But…is Roxas going to be okay?" She was looking at him, her eyebrows pushed together.

"Yeah," Riku said.

"This has happened before," Axel added.

"But…why?" Kairi asked. "Why did he faint?"

"Roxas…" Axel started, "was a good friend of Xion's."

Riku said, "But when she gave herself up, so that Sora could wake up…every memory of her—"

"Died away," said Axel, looking at the ground.

"It was the price that we had to pay, as well," Riku said. "I couldn't even remember that any of this happened, until Axel said her name. Then it all came rushing back. It probably did that for Roxas, too. And Roxas knew her longer. So that rush of memories probably knocked him out."

"Will he remember her again, when he wakes up?" Kairi asked, curious.

Riku and Axel glanced at each other. "We don't know," Axel said.

"Last time he fainted was a bit different…" Riku said, looking at Naminé, who, again, wouldn't look at him.

It was quiet for a second, then Kairi asked, "But now that you remember her…will Xion ever come back?"

"No," Axel said, ending Kairi's hopes. "Xion is a part of Sora's memory, and no longer has a physical body. She can't come back." Axel looked at Sora, almost glaring.

There was an awkward silence then, everyone cut up and down about the horrible arrangement of it all, broken only by—

BAM! CLANG! CLANG!

Everyone jumped, except for Roxas. The noise was loud, and near. Like it was…in Second District?

"Wh-what was that?" Kairi said.

"I'll go check it out," Riku said, heading for the door. "You guys stay here."

No one disobeyed. Not even Sora.

*~x~*


	7. Chapter 7

/ Chapter 7

_Riku_

Upon leaving the house, Riku summoned The Way to Dawn, his Keyblade. It was a long sword, and was dark and powerful. In their last battle together, Sora had wielded it.

There was a second, quieter clatter in Second District, followed by a moan. Was someone being attacked by a Heartless? Riku hadn't seen any, but…

Carefully, Riku walked over to the door, carrying his Keyblade in his right hand, up and ready for danger. He then opened the door with his left.

The door opened up to an alleyway, which led to the main square of Second District. But on the left side of the alley was an indent in the wall, for trash cans to go without getting in the way. But all of the trash cans there were tipped over and tangled with…a man?

The man, upon hearing Riku's entrance, struggled to sit up, using a corner of the indent so he could see Riku. The young Keyblader had stepped away from the doorway to get a better look.

"Who're you?" the man asked. He had short, blond hair and blue eyes. On his head, he wore goggles, and around his neck was a brown box attached to a rope. He wore a white T-shirt and something similar to dark blue capris with a gigantic orange…belt around his waist? He also wore gray socks and black shoes. He had the mentions of a beard and a very long tooth pick in his mouth that moved when he talked.

"That's not something for you to be concerned with," Riku said. "The real question is, who are you?"

The man said something about rude kids these days and looked at The Way to Dawn. "Put that thing down, boy. The name's Cid," he said.

Riku blinked. "_You're_ Cid?"

"'Course I'm Cid!" he said, then added, "Heard of me, have you?"

Riku lowered his sword and relaxed, almost rudely. "You could say that. But because of how much Sora talks, it's not surprising to hear of _everyone_ he's met."

"Heh, yeah, well, Sora is pretty talka—Wait, you mean you know Sora?" Cid said.

Riku stiffened. With just remembering Xion, Cid's words reminded him of her, who almost said the exact same thing.

"_You know Sora?"_

"Yeah," Riku said. He decided he didn't care for this man, but kept his own rude comment to himself:_Better than you ever will, old man. _After a second, Riku noticed how curt he was being. What was wrong with him? Was the darkness inside of him acting up again?

"Well, where is he?" Cid said, looking around and coming up empty.

Riku withheld a sigh. Another follower. "In the house in Third District."

"Well, what are you waiting for, then? Help me up!" Cid struggled again, making a series of clanking noises.

Riku stared him down, then turned around and headed out of Second District.

"Hey!" came a shout from him, which Riku promptly ignored.

Feeling annoyed for no real reason, Riku waited outside the door to the house, as the banging of metal on metal continued in Second District. Eventually, it stopped and Cid appeared in the doorway, angry.

"Why didn't ya help me!" Cid cried indignantly.

Riku ignored this question. "Ready to go, now?"

Cid's shoulders slumped, seeing he had no power over this rude, teenage boy.

Without waiting for an answer, Riku opened the door and went inside.

As soon as Sora saw him, he asked, "What was it?"

Riku didn't reply to this question, either, despite the fact that it was Sora's, and let the answer speak for itself.

Once Cid entered the room, Sora jumped up. "Cid!" he shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, uh, about that…" Cid looked a bit awkward. "Radiant Garden, well, Radiant Garden fell."

"What?" Sora said, shocked.

Cid nodded. "Their forces…it was immense. Never seen so many of 'em in my life…"

Sora stared at the ground in disbelief. Kairi, seeing his disappointment, asked Cid, "Is everyone okay?"

"Well, I dunno," Cid admitted. "I was one of the first to leave." Seeing the fallen faces, Cid added, "But I'm sure they're alright. They'll be fighting in Disney Castle next. The King won't let his own castle fall so easily."

There were various nods around the room, wanting believe him, but not really convinced. Cid's eyes then found Roxas slumped against the wall. "What's wrong with him?" said Cid, nodding towards Roxas. Cid didn't even seem to notice that Roxas was half-transparent.

"He, um, fainted," Naminé said, quickly.

Cid glanced at Naminé, then went to the bed and crouched beside Roxas. "Is the kid going to be alright?" he asked.

"Yes, he just needs some time to rest," Naminé said, slower.

"Mmm." The sound came from Roxas, and he moved a bit.

"He's waking up!" Sora said, excited.

"Quiet, Sora," Riku said, gently.

Roxas moved again, and opened his eyes, blinking a few times before focusing on Cid.

"Xion?" Roxas said, half aware, maybe still dreaming. So he remembered her…

"Nah, not Xion," Cid said, not even knowing who Xion was. "Cid. Ya feeling alright, kid?"

Roxas closed his eyes again, in pain, and put a palm to his forehead. _A headache,_ Riku thought.

"Think so," Roxas said to Cid. "But…what…what happened?"

"You fainted," Cid said, like he was there. "Ya need to take it easy."

Roxas rubbed his head again. "I guess," he said.

"So…" Cid stood up. "How'd you guys get here, anyways?"

"Naminé can use the corridor of darkness." Sora said, and Naminé raised her translucent hand, shyly.

How would Cid react to one of the group being able to use a power of darkness?

"Well, little lady," Cid said, "that's quite a talent you have there."

Well, it seems like Cid was good with weird things.

"But I can only take five people," Naminé said, modest.

Cid scanned the room, quick. "But there are six of you."

"Axel decided to drop in," Kairi said, almost bitterly. They didn't have a good history.

Cid looked at the only oddball of the group, who was wearing a long, black cloak and was much taller and older than everyone else. The man waved. "Name's Axel. Got it memorized?" he said.

"Think I do," Cid said. "So you just came to say hi?"

"But he's coming with us," Roxas said quickly, suddenly sitting up on his own. When this sudden outburst drew everyone's attention, his face turned red.

Saving Roxas from more seconds of embarrassment, Axel said, smiling, "Guess I'm coming with. They'll need adult supervision, after all," Axel added to Cid.

The funny part was, if you knew Axel, you wouldn't call it "adult supervision" at all.

"Alright, but where exactly are you going?" Cid asked. "Didn't King Mickey ask you to stay here?"

"Yeah," Sora said, smiling, "but he'll need our help, eventually."

"By the way things are going, that sounds about right," Cid said, and Sora's smile faded. "But how're you gonna get there? Little Lady here can't transport six people."

"The King has gummi ships," Sora suggested.

"But he said in his letter to us that he didn't have an extra," Riku pointed out.

It was silent for a moment, then Cid said, "A gummi ship, huh?" He smiled.

Sora perked up, remembering something. "Cid, would you—?"

"'Course I would!" Cid said. "And I've got all the parts at the garage."

"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Kairi asked.

"Cid's gonna make us a gummi ship!" Sora said, excited.

Kairi stared. "You can do that?"

"Yep!" Sora said. "Cid always repaired my gummi ship whenever I broke it!"

Kairi didn't like the sound of that, but Riku asked the next question before she was able to comment.

"How long will it take?"

"At least two days," Cid said.

Riku wondered if that was too many. How quickly were the Worlds of Light going to fall before the King realized he needed them?

"But I'll have to start tomorrow. It's a little late, now…" Cid added, looking at his watch.

"Hey, you have a watch, Cid? What time is it?" Sora asked, remembering Roxas's question earlier when it was "morning".

"Late," Cid said. "Why?"

"None of us have one."

"So you have no way of telling what time it is, here?" Cid smiled.

"Er, yeah…"

"Well, I still own the accessory shop. Wanna buy one offa me?" Cid grinned even wider.

Sora's shoulders slumped, obviously hoping for a free one. "Alright, how much?"

"Six thousand munny."

"What?"

"Six thousand."

"Why is something like that so expensive?"

"The best things in life aren't cheap, boy."

"I could get ten Chaos Rings for that much!"

"Do ya want it, or not?"

"Or, or…twenty-four Protect Chains!"

"Like they've ever done you any good."

"I've seen really powerful weapons for cheaper!"

"I'm not budging, Sora. You're wasting your time."

"Grr…"

Obviously, Sora would never become a merchant.

He started pulling all of his munny out of his pockets, counting it out.

"Six thousand."

"I know!"

When Sora was done, he handed Cid a big bag of munny, wallet mostly empty. "Not a penny more," Sora said, a sour expression on his face.

"Wouldn't want a penny more," Cid said, taking his watch off. "Then I'd feel guilty." He held it out.

Sora stared at it, then took it. "This is your watch," he said.

"Very good, boy."

"I thought I was getting one from the shop."

"You are. I have about forty identical ones at the shop."

"Forty? Then why are they so expensive? Surely not that many people want a _watch_."

"They don't. That's why I think I'm making a pretty good deal with you. Well, good for me, at least. Not that many people are as gullible as you are, Sora." Sora's jaw dropped, and everyone laughed, even the Nobodies. _Leave it to Sora to lighten the mood by making the worst deal in his life. Or anyone else's._

*~x~*


	8. Chapter 8

/Chapter 8

_Kairi_

Still sitting on the bed, Kairi looked around the room. Despite the time, Cid decided to hang around the house a little longer so that he and Sora could catch up. With them by the window, Riku and Axel talked near the door, a few feet away. Kairi's eyes then fell upon the rest of the room, which was devoid of people.

Instead, it held the mirror.

Since the Nobodies looked a bit worn out, the group had agreed that maybe so much time being see-through wasn't that great for them. To remedy this, Axel and Riku went out and got the mirror from the abandoned house in First District to bring back. They had also found some sleeping bags, which they thought would come in handy. When the Nobodies had stepped through the mirror, they looked a bit better, maybe less uncomfortable. They were still there, on the other side of the mirror…

This mirror, or Nobody World, was exactly the same as the one the Somebodies were in, only flip-flopped. If you entered the house in the Somebodies' world, the bed would appear on your left. If you entered that same door in the Nobodies' world, the bed would appear on your right.

But while the objects were flipped, people…weren't.

Although Kairi couldn't see Roxas from where she sat, she knew he was lying on the bed in the mirror world; although Roxas seemed a bit reluctant, everyone told him he should get some rest and sleep on the bed tonight. He wasn't asleep yet, of course, since the lights were still on and the two rooms were filled with chatter. Although, as Kairi looked at the mirror, she saw Naminé sitting on her sleeping bag in front of the mirror. She was looking at Kairi, and gave the universal "Come over here" signal with her hand.

Kairi got off the bed and walked over to the mirror, adjusting the sleeping bag she knew Sora planned to sleep in tonight, and sat down. "Something wrong, Naminé?"

"No. It's just that… I was wondering if I could try to hold Destiny's Embrace for a second," she replied.

Destiny's Embrace was Kairi's Keyblade, which she had gotten from Riku in the World That Never Was. "Why?" she asked, politely surprised.

"Well, I was curious; Roxas can wield his Keyblade because of Sora, so maybe because you can wield Destiny's Embrace, so can I," she explained.

Kairi smiled, as if she was at a slumber party and they were telling secrets. "Okay, let's try it."

She held out her right hand, where, with a flash of light, her Keyblade appeared. The keychain was a Paopu fruit, while the hand was in the shape of a heart. One side was a bright blue color, and looked like a wave. It then faded to an off-white, which wrapped around the neck to where the Keyblade stopped and two spokes pointed out, in the opposite direction as the blue part of the handle, and three flowers bloomed there. It was the very essences of Destiny Islands, of Kairi's home.

Kairi flipped it the other way, so that Naminé could grab it with her right hand, and held it up to the mirror by the end of the handle and its neck. "Here," she said.

Naminé reached out, hesitating, then she let her fingers go through the mirror. They became translucent, but strong enough, apparently, to pull the Keyblade through. She smiled, holding it in her hands, before it suddenly became light and flashed back to Kairi's hand. Their smiles faded.

"Oh…" Naminé said, disappointed. "I guess not…"

"I wonder why…" Kairi said, mostly to herself. Then she spotted Naminé's fallen face. "Hey, don't lose hope! Maybe it's just because you're a Nobody. What if we tried Roxas's?" She called to him through the mirror, "Hey, Roxas!"

Leaning around to get a better view, she saw him on the bed, fiddling with some kind of book. When he heard Kairi, he stood up, shoving the book in his back pocket, and came over to them. Sitting down cross-legged beside Naminé, he asked, "What's up?"

"You know how you can summon the Keyblade because you're Sora's Nobody?" Kairi said, and Roxas nodded. "Well, we're trying to figure out if the same is true for Naminé.

"Oh, to see if she can hold it?" Roxas said.

"Yeah," Kairi said with a nod.

"You don't mind, do you?" Naminé asked, concern on her face.

Roxas shook his head. "Not at all." He held out his hand like Kairi had, and summoned his own Keyblade. It was silver, with a gold handle, and looked exactly like Sora's. He then flipped the Kingdom Key around, like Kairi had, for Naminé to take.

Naminé seemed even more hesitant than before, but she took it, holding it for a few seconds. Smiles went around, thinking that they had figured this out, just before it disappeared and came back to Roxas's hand.

"Why didn't it work?" Roxas murmured, examining the key.

Kairi just barely heard Naminé, her head down, whisper to herself, "It has to be that reason…"

"What?" Kairi asked.

Naminé glanced at Kairi, then looked back at her hands and took a deep breath as Roxas put his Keyblade away. "I…I have a special power."

"That one you told me about before?" Roxas said, but Kairi had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yes," Naminé said. "Most Nobodies do have a power their Somebodies didn't have. But they usually have the power over an element. …I have the power to manipulate people's memories."

"Memories?" Kairi said, a bit alarmed. "Anyone's memories?"

"No," Naminé said. "Only those who have connections to Sora."

"But…what do you do to them?" Kairi asked.

"I can rearrange them, or make them forget things. I can even make them remember something that never happened. But…it's starting to feel like a curse rather than an ability. It has only brought misfortune to the ones I care about…"

"But what does this have to do with the Keyblade?" Kairi asked, still confused.

"I think that the Keyblade senses my power, and the bad things I have done because of it. And so I'm not worthy to wield the Keyblade…" Naminé said, dejected.

Everyone was silent for a moment, then Roxas spoke up. "I'm really sorry, Naminé. But, y'know, it's not really your fault, and that doesn't make you a bad person. You've really helped me before. When all I wanted was answers, you were there, holding the truth. The only one, in fact. Even when you knew you could've gotten hurt, you were there to help me understand."

"Yeah! Me, too!" Kairi said. "After I was kidnapped and taken to Organization headquarters, you helped me believe in myself and escape."

Slowly, Naminé smiled. "Thank you. You're really good friends."

Kairi and Roxas smiled, then he said, "Anytime."

*~.~*

_King Mickey_

History was repeating itself.

King Mickey again stood overlooking a battle between Nobodies and Heartless, and the Forces of Light. He was standing on a balcony of Disney Castle, a place, he knew, Sora had never even seen before. Below him was open land surrounding Disney Castle, where the Forces of Light were slowly moving back. How could there be so many of them?

He sighed. It was no use. They would have to retreat to Destiny Islands and, ultimately, Traverse Town. Knowing it was no use denying the inevitable, King Mickey raised his Keyblade to the sky once again, and a shot of white light sprang from it, once again calling surrender. After the light show was over, King Mickey once again looked down on the battlefield. There were less angry looks and more let down, worried ones. People were losing hope.

Something needed to be done. Fast.

*~x~*


	9. Chapter 9

/ Chapter 9

_Roxas_

"Roxas."

It was Axel's voice. Through the darkness, Roxas saw his eyes blazing.

"Roxas, where have you been this whole time?" his voice continued and it broke a little, at the end.

"No, you left!" Roxas said. "I've been waiting for you for so long…"

"It doesn't matter now," Axel said, and Roxas felt him come closer. "All that matters now is that we're together again."

"Axel…"

Axel placed a finger on Roxas's lips, silencing him and making him shiver. Axel moved closer, placing a hand on Roxas's waist, and whispered in his ear, "Don't talk now."

As Axel removed his finger from his lips, Roxas felt Axel's breath on his skin, moving over his cheek to his lips, where their breath, uneven now, mingled in the small space between them. Axel paused there, and Roxas felt tortured as he waited, as Axel took his sweet time to move in closer, closer still…

CLUNK-BAM!

Roxas bolted upright, suddenly awake. Gasping, Roxas found himself back in the house in Third District.

_So…what just happened…was just…_

_A dream._

Roxas sighed and fell back on his pillows, covering his face with his arms.

_It was just a dream. It was just a dream and didn't actually happen._

He took a deep breath and let his arms rest on his torso, staring blankly at the ceiling. After a few seconds, he noticed something odd – the wall was on the other side of the bed. _That's funny,_ Roxas thought, turning over, _I was sure that the wall was on my right when I laid down to sleep last ni –_

With a start, Roxas realized that he was pressed up to the wall, and Axel laying inches from him in the same bed.

Frozen, Roxas stopped breathing.

In his sleep, Axel mumbled something and turned over.

As quickly and quietly as he could, Roxas half-stood on the bed, plastering himself to the wall, careful not to touch him. Roxas edged himself off the bed and stepped onto the ground, the same thought going over and over in his mind:

_Why is Axel in my bed?_

Roxas, keeping his eyes on him, didn't feel the uneven surface behind him until it was too late. He tripped and fell on his bottom, making a loud SLAM as he hit the floor. The room shook, and people began waking up. Looking around a bit more, Roxas saw that his legs had landed inches from Sora's, who was still lying down. Feeling the danger in this, Roxas hurriedly got up, and as he stood, others sat up.

"What happened?" Naminé asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes with her translucent hand.

"Uh, I dunno," Roxas said, trying not to look guilty. He looked down to see what he tripped over, and he saw the mirror on the ground. Sora, lying next to the mirror, scooted away from it, and Roxas reached down to pick it back up. "I think…" Roxas said, "I think that Sora might've kicked the mirror in his sleep and knocked it over."

"The connection must've been severed, and that's why you guys are over here, now," Riku said, his hair a bit messed up from sleeping on it.

Roxas set it back up, and the mirror was just a mirror – not a portal to another world.

_And that dream's just a dream – nothing more._

"Well, now that we're awake, what do we do now?" Kairi asked, who was lying next to Naminé.

As usual, everyone looked to Sora for the answer without making any conscious act to do so. And it was easy to see that Sora was pressured by the role as leader, as he quickly looked for an answer.

"Um…uh…patrols!" Sora said.

"Patrols?" Roxas asked. "Why?"

"Well, uh, we now know that people are coming here, right? People like Cid. So we gotta make sure the town's safe!" Sora explained.

Roxas resisted rolling his eyes. Sora was so _eager_ to find Heartless, any Heartless. "So you're going on patrol?" Roxas said.

"So _we're_ going on patrol," Sora corrected.

Through all craziness of the morning, Roxas just then remembered it; he had been so shaken by the dream, by so real it was, that he had forgotten what he was.

A Nobody of a Somebody. Of not being able to being touched. Of not being able to leave Sora and Kairi's side.

Roxas couldn't help glancing at Axel. He stared back, confused, and Roxas looked away quickly.

It was a dream, and it didn't actually happen. It couldn't actually happen.

*~.~*

_Roxas_

Patrolling really only consisted of walking through the three districts of the city, but because Sora really wanted to find _something_…it kind of took all day.

They started in Third District, including Merlin's old house, which Sora was determined to check, though no one else wanted to take the risk of getting wet when going across the lake and moving platforms. When they found nothing, they moved on to Second, Sora in wet clothes. It, too, seemed deserted, especially the alleyway. Sora wanted to go to the secret corridor, where Sora wanted to check, too, but his friends talked him out of it. Kairi looked like she almost wanted to take Sora's side, but stayed silent. An old memory of Sora's came up in Roxas's mind, and he realized that Kairi might be starting to understand how much Sora has changed.

When they found nothing, they went to First. The square was empty, as usual, and the back alleys proved to be the same. Everyone's expression reflected boredom, except for Sora, who seemed almost too psyched. They headed back up to go _back_ through Second, when they saw Cid, who must've just came out of his shop, and was working.

"Hey, Cid!" Sora said. "How're you doing?"

"Hey, Sora. I'm fine, but I've been having more trouble than I thought I would for finding all the pieces for the gummi ship. I've had to use quite a few replacements…" Cid said, looking at the colorful make-shift…"gummi ship" beside him.

Sora's face fell. "Oh…Will you be able to finish it?"

Cid looked at Sora, and told him, "Of course! Don't you worry, kid. Still got a few tricks up my sleeves…" Cid messed up Sora's spiky hair. Then he changed the subject, "Hey, y'know that hotel in Second District?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I decided to pass by it on the way back to my shop, and I found that other refugees are staying there. Queen Minnie and Daisy are there and others."

"Oh," Sora said. "I guess it's a good thing we didn't stay there, then. There wouldn't be enough rooms."

"Yeah," Cid said. "And if any more worlds fall, this town is gonna fill up fast."

_With how empty this world is,_ Roxas thought, looking at the creepy almost-ghost town, taking in Cid's words with a grain of salt, _a few more people wouldn't be a problem._

Just then, a bizarre but familiar sound came from the front gate of the town. Everyone turned, and Sora stepped up to the edge of the elevated part of First District. Above the three-story buildings near the gate, Roxas saw…

"A gummi ship!" Sora said.

The ship landed on the other side of the gate and various sounds were heard—ship doors opening, voices, footsteps—before the gummi ship emerged from the buildings on the other side of the district, and sped off, going back to where it had came.

The sounds on the other side of the gate slowly faded, as the friends watched and listened. Just as slowly, the gate opened, and three people emerged.

Sora, recognizing them, called out, "Selphie! Tidus! Wakka!"

*~.~*

_Sora_

Sora hadn't imagined seeing his island friends so soon. From up on the ledge, Sora jumped down, and ran to meet the other islanders. The others took the longer—safer—way around

"Sora!" Wakka said, in his island accent. "How ya doin', mon?"

"Good, Wakka," Sora said. "What about you guys?"

"Us?" Tidus said. "We're fine, of course! _You're_ the one who left the islands so suddenly."

"Yeah," Selphie said. "And only you can get into trouble after being away from home only a few days."

Knowing this was true, Sora went into his usual hands-behind-head pose so he wouldn't look so awkward. And guilty.

"So what've you guys been doing?" Sora asked. "Why are you here?"

Kairi and the others caught up then, and she added, "Yeah, are the islands okay?"

The three newly arrived islanders shared glances.

"Well…" Tidus said.

"Not really," Selphie finished.

"Disney Castle was taken over," Tidus said.

"Destiny Islands are next," Wakka put in.

"So they brought us here so we would be safe," Selphie said.

"Yeah, but if they come here, we get to fight!" Tidus said, bringing out his wooden sword and dropping into a battle-ready pose.

"Wait a minute," Naminé said. "Who are all these 'they's?"

"The Forces of Light brought us here," Selphie said.

"The King?" Sora said. Excited, he dropped his pose.

"We never got to see him," Wakka said.

"He was busy with new battle strategies," Selphie added.

"The other one isn't working," Kairi said. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, but once _they_ come here, we'll take care of 'em!" Tidus said, swinging his sword at an imaginary target.

"'They'?" Naminé said, trying to get everything straight.

"The Heartless and the Nobodies!" Tidus said, still swinging.

"The Forces of Darkness," Selphie said.

"Why 'Darkness'," Riku asked, "if the Nobodies are involved?"

Tidus stopped swinging. "It's shorter," he said.

Selphie shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, anyone know what time it is?" Wakka said.

Sora took out his watch. "Whoa! It's that time already?"

"Late?" Wakka asked.

Sora nodded, still staring.

"Well, we should probably be going to bed, then," Wakka said.

"I am kind of tired," said Selphie.

"Any of you know where we could stay?" Wakka asked.

"I do!" Sora said. "I can take you there. And um…"-he looked at his other friends-"we should be going to bed, too. Meet you guys at the house?"

"That's fine," Riku said, shrugging.

"But, um…" Kairi looked a little worried. "Maybe we should…" She glanced at Roxas and Naminé.

"Oh! Yeah, umm…" Sora didn't know how to quite phrase the question. "Do you guys want to, um…" His hand motions seemed useless, gesturing to the four of them.

"Disappear?" Naminé said, giving a sad smile. "The right way?"

Sora looked unhappy about the phrasing, but he scratched his head and said, "Yeah…"

Naminé, still smiling, closed her eyes, making her look a bit happier. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine."

Slightly worried for no logical reason, Sora and Kairi, standing opposite of their Nobodies, joined hands and closed their eyes, dismissing them. A brilliant light followed, and when it faded and eyes were opened, Roxas and Naminé were gone.

After a moment, Kairi said, "Well, we'll meet you at the house." She let go of his hand and moved a little, towards the door to Third District. The group followed her steps.

"Yeah, see ya," Sora said, mirroring her.

When the two groups parted, no one seemed to notice that Axel was the most reluctant to leave.

*~x~*


	10. Chapter 10

/ Chapter 10

_Sora_

"Okay, it's just over here," Sora said, pointing to the hotel. Once inside, they knocked on the blue door that, hopefully, wouldn't make them homesick from all the ocean decorations. When no one answered, they went inside and found it, indeed, empty.

"We don't have to pay?" Selphie said, sounding unintentionally like Kairi.

"Nah," Sora replied. "No one was here during my first visit, and the town is even emptier now."

The three of them settled around the room, Selphie on the bed, Tidus by the far wall, and Wakka nearest to the door, as they looked around.

"Well," Sora said, "I guess that's it. I'll see you guys later, 'kay?"

"Wait, Sora," Selphie said. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Sora stopped, and looked at her. "Yeah?"

"Guys, do you mind?" Selphie said to Tidus and Wakka. When Tidus looked at Wakka, he shrugged, and headed for the door. Tidus followed, and Sora and Selphie were alone.

Selphie gestured for him to come to her, and sit near the foot of the bed. He obeyed.

"Sora…so…uh…" Selphie said, looking down. Then she looked at him and said, "How are you and Kairi doing?"  
Sora straightened up where he was sitting. He didn't expect such an easy question. "We're fine," he said. "Everyone's fine. Naminé and Roxas are becoming great friends with us and—"

"No," Selphie said. "I meant your relationship."

Sora's mouth dried. Everything seemed to slow down.

_Our…relationship?_

"I don't understand," Sora said. He wasn't sure he wanted to.

As Sora stared at the ground, Selphie said, "Well, is Kairi your girlfriend?"

Sora's hand, currently on the blanket of the bed, clenched. "I don't know."

"Well, do you like Kairi?" When Sora's head shot up, Selphie clarified, "More than a friend?"

His eyes found the blanket. "I thought I did," he said.

"But?"

"But…it's not the same anymore…when we're together, now…"

"There's no spark?"

Sora nodded. "She's not the same as she was before."

"You're not the same as before, Sora," Selphie said. "Maybe…it's time to move on."

Sora nodded. "But…how do I tell Kairi?"

"When the time is right, you'll figure it out."

Sora nodded again. He felt like a bobble head, so he stopped. When Selphie didn't say anything, he asked, "Is that it?"

"Well, no." Selphie took a deep breath. "Sora, there' someone else you _do_ like."

Sora perked up. He wasn't expecting this. "There is?"

"Yes," Selphie said.

"Who?"

Selphie smiled. "Shouldn't you know who you like?"

"Well…"

"It's okay if you don't know it, yet, Sora. You'll get it. Just keep thinking about it, 'kay?"

Sora nodded. "'Kay."

"Well, we should probably bring the boys back in, now," Selphie said, getting up.

"Oh, okay." Sora stood up, and he said, "Uh, Selphie?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Selphie smiled. "Don't mention it. I thought you could use someone to talk to." She then opened the door, where the boys were "innocently" playing Rock-Paper-Scissors on the ground.

"Aww, man, you beat me again!" Tidus said, his hand in the shape of scissors.

"Heheh, brute strength always wins," Wakka said, grinning, holding his hand in the "rock" pose.

"Two out of three."

"Dude! You've already lost four times!"

Maybe they really _were_ playing Rock-Paper-Scissors.

"Excuse me, boys, but could you please continue your game inside? Sora needs the doorway," Selphie said.

"Uh…" Wakka said.

"Okay," Tidus finished. They both got up, stepping inside.

"Well, bye, then, Sora!" Selphie said.

"Uh, y-yeah," Sora said. "See you guys later!" He took a step outside, waving.

"See ya later!" Wakka said.

"We'll have our rematch next time we meet, okay, Sora? Then I'll kick your butt!" Tidus said.

"Okay," Sora said, smiling. "See ya, guys."

Sora, having something new to think over, left the hotel deep in thought.

*~.~*

_Axel_

He was in the Somebodies' world. He shouldn't be.

Axel was in his usual sleeping place, in the corner near the windows, parallel to the bed. It was dark now, and everyone was sleeping. Across from his, near the door, was Riku, leaning against the wall. In the bed was Kairi, curled up, her back to the wall, her head resting on her arm. Of the Somebodies, all that was left was Sora, who slept sprawled on the floor, on top of his sleeping bag, between the opposite corner, and the mirror.

_The mirror…_

When Sora and Kairi had joined hands in First District, dismissing Roxas and Naminé, Axel couldn't believe his eyes. Roxas had _vanished,_ but no one seemed to care. No one seemed to see the looks he had given the spot where Roxas had stood, before he had faded into the light. No one had seemed to see the look that Roxas had given Axel before he had disappeared. The look that said just a few words, that meant so very much:

"_You're about to find out."_

While Roxas was gone, Axel could only think of the same thought, over and over again:_ Where is he?_

While Axel had truly meant Roxas, he also technically meant Sora, too. Roxas couldn't _be_ unless Sora was around. And Axel had run that thought over and over inside his mind…wondering how they could talk, without Sora and Kairi being there… Eventually, Axel had found the answer.

When Roxas had reappeared, it was like someone had stopped stepping on Axel's chest, and he could breathe again. But they still weren't given time to talk. Too soon, Sora sent everyone to bed, and Axel didn't want to be overheard, or risk attracting the attention of the others by speaking against Sora.

So Axel waited. And slowly, one by one, the friends fell asleep.

Now that he knew that everyone was out, Axel stood up from his corner, and took another look at the mirror. Sora and Kairi had activated it before everyone was in bed, so from his standpoint in the Somebodies' world, Axel could see through the mirror to the Nobodies' world. In the world Axel was standing in, Kairi was on the bed, sleeping peacefully. Naminé was also sleeping on the bed, curled up, back to the wall, but she was also on the other side of the mirror, her arm covering her face, which, what could be seen of it, was contorted, as if she was having a bad dream.

The boys were mostly the same. But because Riku didn't have a Nobody, no one appeared in the mirror as Riku's opposite, by the door. Sora, though, did. Sora slept lavishly, stomach up, legs apart, one arm raised above his head, resting on the cold carpet. The other was by his side, and his mouth was hanging open. But Roxas, beside his arm being in the same place, and sleeping in a similar sleeping bag, Roxas was in a totally different pose.

For one thing, Roxas was on his side, similar to Naminé's pose. For another, Roxas was actually _in_ his sleeping bag, not just on it. Lastly, while Sora's face was in the open air, for everyone to see, Roxas's head was covered by the sleeping bag, as if he was trying to hide himself from the others.

_But not from me,_ Axel thought. _I won't let him._

Axel stepped up to mirror, seeing that it was perfect for his height—just a couple inches taller than him. Axel was similar to Riku, in a way, though, because while Riku saw no one looking back at him in the mirror, neither did Axel. He stopped to think about what this meant. He was a Nobody, who was somehow living in the Somebodies' world. Axel felt like he could step right through the mirror, to that world that he actually belonged in, in its title. And that's exactly what he planned to do. But…once he has stepped through…will he be able to get back? He was about to find out.

"Here goes everything," he said out loud, forgetting that the others were asleep. Silently, he stepped through the mirror, into the Nobodies' world.

The mirror, as he stepped through it, moved aside for him in its frame. And so, for him, it felt like nothing different from stepping through any ordinary doorway. _It works,_ Axel thought. _A bit anticlimactic, but okay._

Continuing to what he really came here for, Axel looked around the room, and quickly found Roxas's blond hair poking through his sleeping bag. Although, because Roxas was in his own world now, he was fully solid—no longer translucent. Axel took this as a good sign, but he knew that if he saw Roxas's sleeping face before talking to him, he would chicken out. So Axel decided not to move the sleeping bag. Instead, Axel bent down and tried something—touch. Axel tapped on the part of the sleeping bag he guessed was Roxas's shoulder and, thankfully, Axel didn't go through him. He whispered in his ear, "Roxas, it's time we've talked."

Roxas moved a bit, waking up, before his head came out of the sleeping bag, his blue eyes confused. "Axel…?" he whispered.

"C'mon," Axel said, standing up. "Let's go outside."

Without waiting for Roxas to get up, Axel left the house, leaving the door open so Roxas could follow.

As Axel traveled down the stairs leading to the main square of Second District, he heard Roxas get out of his sleeping bag and leave the house, shutting the door behind him.

Axel led Roxas to the main square, figuring that's as far as they should go, so Roxas didn't get too far away from Sora and Kairi. Keeping to the wall closest to the house, Axel turned around, and Roxas stopped.

It was time for the moment of truth.

*~.~*

_Roxas_

"So, Roxas, do you think you could answer a few questions for me?" Axel hadn't turned around, but his tone wasn't too serious. Somehow, that made Roxas's nerves around Axel worse.

"Uh, um, s-sure." Roxas hated how dumb he sounded.

"Alright, so, how do you like Sora and friends?" Axel said, turning ninety degrees towards Roxas.

"They're-they're fine," Roxas said, trying to get his voice to stop shaking. "Everyone's really nice and seem to like me and everything, so…"

"Hmph," Axel said, but not in a rude way. He turned back around, so Roxas couldn't see his face. "And…?"

"And?" Roxas didn't know what else to say.

"…What about Naminé?"

Roxas had a strange feeling about this. "…Naminé?"

"What do you think of her?"

Roxas looked away and shrugged, which was wasted on Axel. "She's nice."

"Roxas." His tone was tight, curt, frustrated almost.

"What?"

Suddenly, Axel whipped around and came around Roxas, blocking the exit, putting his right hand against the wall. The movement backed Roxas into the wall, trapping him there.

He was close, now, closer than he ever had been before. Roxas couldn't seem to breathe right, but could see Axel's face, and his eyes were hard, determined.

He wasn't about to give up.

"Roxas…do you like Naminé?"

Roxas swallowed hard, but he did not avoid Axel's gaze he whispered his one-word answer, just loud enough to hear:

"No."

Axel's body language didn't change, but his eyes did. Inside, Axel had been relieved. He continued with his next question:

"Is there anyone you do like?"

Roxas didn't even consider lying, but he kept his face the same.

"Yes," Roxas said, slowly. "But I'm not sure that he likes me back."

Roxas didn't specify who "he" was, he didn't need to. Axel seemed to know. Or, at least, he was satisfied with these answers enough to stop interrogating him.

Axel pushed himself away from the wall—away from Roxas—releasing him. Unconsciously, Roxas took a step away from the wall. Axel didn't remove his eyes from Roxas the whole time, until he turned around.

And Axel started walking away.

"Wait!" Roxas called, and slowly, Axel stopped. But he didn't turn around.

"I…I don't think it's fair," Roxas said, as quickly as he could, "that I've told you how I feel, and…and you won't tell me anything in return!" Roxas saw Axel's head move, slightly, like he was now looking at the ground. Roxas still couldn't see his face. He continued, more slowly, "Even if you don't like me…even if you hate me…I'd still like to know…I can never tell how you feel, and you never tell me…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Roxas saw Axel move, just slightly. Roxas looked up, raising his head. Part of Axel's eye could be seen. He was looking at Roxas. Only Roxas.

"You really want to know?" Axel said, his face unreadable.

"Yes!" Roxas said, maybe a bit too desperately. He looked at the ground and said, more softly, "I'd just like to know, y'know?"

Everything seemed to move fast, then. Before Roxas could blink, Axel ran to him, stopping just inside Roxas's personal space. Gently, but quickly at the same time, Axel took Roxas's face in his hands, lifting it as Axel bent down and pressed his lips to Roxas's.

Roxas's world whirled beneath his feet. He couldn't imagine this…luck. Axel was kissing him. How? Did…did Axel like him back? Or was this another dream, another fantasy, that really wasn't true? Was Axel just joking, just teasing him, and he would pull back in a second and say, "Gotcha!"? Was Axel just doing this to please him?

Too soon, Axel stopped to breathe, but between deep gulps of air, he said, "C'mon, Roxas, I can't do this by myself, y'know." Roxas felt one of Axel's hands move from his cheek, tangling with his curly hair and taking a fistful of it. Somehow, it felt really good.

Suddenly, Roxas didn't care if this wasn't real or not. He just didn't want it to end.

Roxas grabbed the hood of Axel's cloak, pulling him down to him. His lips found Axel's and Roxas felt his in response. Axel seemed to try to say something, but it came out as a sound, and Roxas couldn't seem to focus on what it was. Not being tall enough to run his hands through Axel's hair, Roxas's other hand found the back of his neck. Axel's hand—the one that wasn't in Roxas's hair—found his waist. The action reminded Roxas of his dream, but it was a fleeting thought. _This is the real Axel._

Nothing else mattered to Roxas, now.

*~x~*


	11. Chapter 11

/ Chapter 11

_Sora_

King Mickey had a knack for showing up at just the right time, at just the right place. But he also had a knack for showing up at unpredictable times. Like now.

"Pinckney?" Sora heard Riku say. Or, at least, it sounded like that anyway. Sora had just woken up from a knock at the door, which Riku had cautiously opened it for. And in came the King. He seemed so out of place that Sora wondered if he was still dreaming.

"You are Majestly, what're you doin' here?" Sora said, having trouble pronouncing words right and rubbing his eyes. Around him, Sora heard the others starting to wake up. "And at this hour! It's…" Sora didn't know what time it was, and felt too lazy to look at his watch "really early."

"I know it is, Sora, but something terrible has happened!" King Mickey said, urgency in his voice. "Destiny Islands has been taken over!"

A tense silence filled the room.

"Our home…" Kairi said, quiet and sad.

"What's gonna happen now?" Sora said, looking at the ground.

King Mickey looked like he knew how they felt, but had to continue. "They're coming here next. _Everyone's_ coming here next. And…" The King sighed. "We need you out of here."

Sora's head shot up. "What?"

"Our forces are not strong enough to overtake the enemy," the King explained. "We can only hold them back. So we need you to be on the inside."

"You want us to infiltrate their bases?" Riku asked.

"Exactly. I want you to take down their leader. If they have no one to command them, the Heartless and the Nobodies won't know what to do. They'll be easy to take out, then."

"Okay," Kairi said, "but who _is_ their leader?"

The King shrugged. "We dunno. But we know where he is, and we think we know how to get more info on him."

"Where?" Sora asked.

"He's in the Castle that Never Was. But your destination right now is the library of Hollow Bastion," the King said. "Ansem used to experiment there and with so many books and secret passageways, I have a feeling you can find what we need."

"How long can you hold off the Forces of Darkness, then?" Riku asked.

"We don't have many resources left, so prolly…three days," King Mickey said, a sad look on his face.

"But they have four bases!" Riku said. "That'll never work!"

"That's why you need to leave _now_," the King said, before looking at Naminé.

"I-I can't do it!" Naminé said, stuttering under the pressure. "I can only take five people!"

King Mickey looked around the room, and into the mirror. "Six…" he said.

"Cid can help!" Sora said, jumping up. "He was making us a gummi ship!"

"Sora," Riku said, "he said it would take him two days, at least, and it's only been one!"

"And he said he was having trouble finding all the parts," Kairi added.

"There's no way he could be done already!"

"We have to check," Sora said.

Riku sighed, but King Mickey said, "Sora's right! We can't give up now!" He turned to Sora. "Take us to Cid."

Sora nodded, then exited the house, everyone else close on his heels. Roxas and Naminé were reduced to being see-through after stepping through the mirror. Sora ran down the steps, knowing the path well, but a surprise waited for them in the main square.

The plaza was filled with Heartless.

*~.~*

_Roxas_

"I was afraid of this," King Mickey said.

"They're here already?" Riku said.

"Yes, and we have to take them down to get to Cid." Mickey summoned Kingdom Key DΩ.

Riku followed suit, and The Way to Dawn materialized in his hand. Kairi pulled out her floral Keyblade. Axel's fiery chakrams appeared in his hands. Sora brought his hand out in front of him and, with a flash of light, his silver Keyblade was in it and Roxas brought his own Keyblade out.

Seeing all the Keyblades flash into their masters' hands, Riku remembered something. He called, "Roxas! Protect Naminé!"

"Huh?" Roxas said, glancing at the weaponless Naminé, then seeing Riku's point.

"I don't know if they can touch you guys, but she doesn't have a weapon, either way," Riku explained.

"Okay, on it!" Roxas said, taking position in front of Naminé.

Just then, two Dusks broke through the crowd, wriggling towards him. Roxas heard them at the last second and lifted his weapon in just enough time to block the closest one's attack. A _cling!_ noise sounded, and Roxas was forced backwards.

"Whoa!" Roxas said, alerting Axel, who quickly threw a chakram at the lesser Nobody. After it had disappeared, Axel continued to fight beside Roxas. Roxas yelled to Riku, who was back-to-back with Sora, "They can touch us!"

"Okay, you guys take out the Nobodies, then, and we Somebodies will take out the Heartless!" Riku said, seeing that there was a lot more Heartless.

Groups formed without any spoken agreement. While Riku ordered Roxas to protect Naminé, Axel automatically started fighting with him, making up for Naminé's vulnerability. Sora and Riku were an unbeatable team, having fought for years and thus knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses. King Mickey, who was hard to beat by himself, fought alongside Kairi, who was missing more than a few years of battle experience.

Roxas blocked another Dusk's attack. He was mostly worked on the defensive to keep Naminé safe. As Roxas repositioned himself around Naminé, Axel took out the dazed Nobody, and the cycle began again. No Heartless approached, making Roxas think that Heartless couldn't touch them. And likewise, too.

The three groups moved out of Third District and into First, trying not to destroy every enemy in sight, but to make their way to Cid as fast as possible. He could be in trouble, and the swarms of Heartless and Nobodies were only going to get thicker.

Riku knocked a Dark Ball away as Sora destroyed a Soldier in a single hit. "Where are the Forces of Light?" he called to the King. Roxas figured he was thinking of Donald and Goofy.

"Second District," the King answered Sora. "Below the bell tower in the main square. But some still need to get here, yet!" He spotted a Shadow trying to sneak up on Kairi and sliced it with his golden Keyblade.

Eventually the friends made it to the stairs, where Riku called out, "Okay! Roxas, your group will go see Cid first. Once everything's sorted out, Axel comes back for Sora and Kairi. Me and the King will hold them off long enough so that I'm the last to board. Everyone okay with that?"

Everyone agreed with various shouts of "Sounds good!" and "Okay!" After, Roxas and Naminé linked eyes, nodded, and broke away from the crowd, Axel following behind to kill off any random Nobodies brave enough to try to take them on. They ran to the shortcut between the accessory shop and the items shop, ignoring the stairs on the other side. Roxas used a box to help Naminé up the ledge that Sora had jumped down from, just the day before.

When the three of them had arrived at the shop, Roxas called into the garage, "Cid! Is it done?"

"It about has to be!" Cid called back, standing up. He thought about something, then asked, "Does any of you guys know _how_ to fly a gummi ship?"

"Sora does." When Cid made a face, Roxas said, "The rest of us usually use the corridor of darkness! We can't help it!"

"It'll have to do," Cid said gravely, as if someone had died. Already. "Well, c'mon, get in!" He opened one of the doors of the gummi ship.

Wondering if he was just invited to his own doom, Roxas and Naminé got onto the gummi ship, as Axel went back for Sora and Kairi.

"Ever been on a gummi ship?" Naminé asked, looking around.

"Me? No. But Sora has, so I know what it's like," Roxas said. He noticed that there were just enough seats for the six of them, lined in sets of twos. "Although, this one's bigger than the ones Sora's been on. Usually there are only three seats…"

"They're in couples…" Naminé noticed, and Roxas wondered if Cid was playing matchmaker. "Speaking of couples…Roxas, last night I woke up and saw that you and Axel were gone."

Immediately his face went red.

"Oh, I don't mean anything by it," Naminé assured him. "I won't tell anybody. I'm just glad you found someone to be with…"

"Oh," Roxas said, relaxing. "Yeah…but it's hard to be in a relationship with anyone when I have to make sure I don't get too far away from Sora and Kairi…"

"Yeah," Naminé agreed, looking a bit sad.

"I just…I wish I wasn't a Nobody so much…it just gets in the way, and suddenly there's no privacy…" he sighed.

"I know," Naminé said, looking at him. "But Sora and Kairi need us."

Roxas nodded. Noting the plural, he looked at her. _She's a Nobody, too…I wonder…_

"Hey, Naminé?"

"Mm? Yes?"

"Is there anyone _you_ like?"

It was her turn to blush, and she looked away quickly. "Well, I-I…yes, but…I don't know…I don't know where he is…or what happened to him…"

Roxas perked up. "Something happen?"

Naminé shook her head. "It's nothing. It doesn't matter. I'm…I'm a Nobody. And he…he has a heart of his own. There's no way he'd actually fall for someone like me."

Roxas looked at her sadly. He felt bad for her. At least he _had_ someone.

But, then, who _did_ she like?

Suddenly, noises came from outside and Sora, Kairi, and Axel jumped into the gummi ship. Sora found the driver's seat. Roxas went and sat in the last row, and Axel joined him. Naminé sat in the second, but Kairi seemed to want to sit by Sora. Again.

"This seat open?" Kairi asked, coming along the right-hand side.

"Well, umm, I guess…" Sora said, obviously not wanting to sit by her, but not wanting to hurt her feelings, either.

"You guess?" Kairi seemed uncertain.

"Well, I don't know if Riku wants to sit here…but I guess if you want to, he'd understand…"

Even from the side, it was easy to see the hurt on Kairi's face. "Oh…" she said, taking a step back. "Well…t-then, I'll go sit by Naminé." She hurried to sit by her and struck up a conversation instantly, to try to hide her embarrassment.

Sora slowly looked back to the controls. When what he wanted hurt someone, he wasn't that great at making them feel better.

Without warning, Riku jumped in, shouting, "_GO_!" before the door was even closed.

Startled, Sora rushed into pushing buttons, not sure, himself, that he was doing it right. Riku closed the door, fast, then rushed to the only remaining seat, by Sora, buckling his seatbelt as the ship took off.

And now, the adventure was about to _really_ being.

*~.~*

_Roxas_

It wasn't until Roxas woke up that he realized that the start of the adventure was so boring that he had fallen asleep. To be fair, there was probably another reason Roxas was so tired, but…

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," said Axel, sitting beside him.

Groggy, Roxas replied, "I'm not Sleeping Beauty. I look nothing like Aurora." He was speaking from experience. Sora's experience, anyways.

"Well, you both have blue eyes and curly, blond hair. Doesn't sound like a whole lot of difference to me," Axel said. Roxas made a face and he laughed. "No, you're right. You sleep a lot more than she does," Axel continued to laugh.

Roxas rolled his eyes, looked around, and moved a bit. He was very stiff. "Maybe you're right. I was out for a long time, wasn't I?" Remembering the night before, Roxas felt compelled to test his memories. "Wonder why…" he said. Since Roxas wasn't looking at Axel, at first, he didn't see his reaction. But Axel's laughter died and Roxas turned. The look on Axel's face was so fierce, it was almost a glare. Roxas gave a little laugh. "Just had to make sure."

"Make sure of what?"

"That it wasn't…" Roxas looked at the ship's floor "a dream or something…"

Roxas didn't see Axel's confused look. "A dream?"

"Yeah, um…" Roxas felt awkward, saying it out loud. "I, uh, had a, umm, 'dream' of you and, umm, of me—"

Axel laughed again. "A dream, huh? So tell me, am I better kisser in your dreams or in person?"

Roxas's face turned red. Again. "I, uh," he said, quickly, "I dunno, I woke up before, uh, you, um—"

"Oh!" Axel said, remembering something. "Yesterday, when you tripped and woke up and your face was as red as my hair." Axel smiled, looking at Roxas, who had to look up. "Still is."

"Is not!" Roxas said. Having no idea how red his face actually was, he added, "Is it?"

Axel laughed some more, but his laughter was cut short by some strange noises from the gummi ship's engine, and flashing red lights accompanied by sounds of alarms going off.

"What's going on?" Kairi said, standing up.

"Sora?" Riku said, but Sora was staring at the controls, a horrified look on his face.

"Uh-oh," he said.

*~x~*


End file.
